A MAN who stole almost £40,000 while managing a Cumbrian town mobile phone shop has had his jail term for the offence suspended.
Carlisle Crown Court heard Jasper Connor Keith Pattison, 26, committed the crime at Carphone Warehouse’s Penrith branch amid a “rabid gambling addiction”.
Having risen through the company’s ranks to become general manager, Pattison took cash in sums ranging between £400 and almost £5,000 a month while having sole access to the shop safe.
An investigation began after an audit brought to light offending between May of 2016 and May the following year. “It appears the trigger for this was an online gambling problem,” prosecutor Brendan Burke told today’s court sentencing hearing.
Pattison, a man of previous good character who admitted the theft of £39,793, had made full admissions when interviewed and shown genuine remorse.
After also hearing he didn’t present a risk of reoffending, and had taken steps to rehabilitate himself, Judge James Adkin suspended a 10-month jail term for two years.
Pattison, of Aldby Place, Cleator Moor, must complete 200 hours’ unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement. “It was pretty crude offending that was always likely to be discovered,” Judge Adkin told him.
