A branch manager for a decorating supplies firm fleeced the company out of £40,000, flogging paint for cash and then pocketing the money for himself.
George Smith, 33, a married father, from Northwich, Cheshire, spent the money on drugs, alcohol and prostitutes, a court heard.
Smith, a £27,000-a-year manager at the Trafford Park branch of Bromborough Paints, sold paint and wallpaper to decorators for cash and then fiddled the books to cover up his crime.
He joined the firm in September 2016 and was 'in a senior position with a high degree of trust', prosecutor Rachel Widdicombe told Manchester Crown Court on Friday afternoon.
George Smith, 33, a branch manager for a decorating supplies firm, fleeced the company out of £40,000, flogging paint for cash and then pocketing the money for himself. He spent it on drugs, alcohol and prostitutes, a court heard. (He is pictured outside Manchester Crown Court on Friday)
'He was also expected to set a positive example to other members of the team,' she said.
But his thieving came to light when the firm's finance director and his friend, Giuseppe Alfonso, spotted a discrepancy of £5,000 during an audit in May 2019.
He realised it had been created by an individual accounts log-in attributed to Smith.
The 'adjustment' was dated January 2018 - some 18 months after Smith had started working for Bromborough, now known as PaintWell.
Smith was suspended and an investigation by the firm concluded he was behind the theft, mostly of paint but also some wallpaper, worth £61,184, said Ms Widdicombe.
He had started off stealing goods worth £348 in January 2018 but gradually the value of his crimes increased, to £5,729.
In a meeting with Mr Alfonso, Smith at first blamed company training but when told the crime would be reported to police, he 'accepted his responsibility', according to the prosecutor.
He told his employer he had 'got himself in a rut' and had developed addictions to drink, drugs and prostitutes. He admitted he would sell paint to decorators for cash and just pocket the money for himself before making adjustments in the accounts to hide his thieving.
Smith's bank statements showed he had made 'numerous cash withdrawals' and money was spent on hotels, restaurants and takeaways while they were 'no obvious outgoings' such as rent or a mortgage.
Despite his admissions during the meeting, when he was interviewed by police in February 2020, he declined to make any comment. And when he appeared charged with theft at the magistrates' court, he denied the offence, said the prosecutor.
Mr Alfonso told investigators Smith had come with good references and that he 'placed a significant degree of trust' in him.
In a victim impact statement read out to the court, Mr Alfonso said staff bonuses had to be slashed while the number of branch managers with permission to work in their accounts system was also cut 'due to the actions of one individual'.
He said he broke down and was left in tears when he realised the scale of the theft during the meeting with Smith.
Mr Alfonso said he had been to charitable events with Smith and had to 'break the news' to the defendant's mother and brother that he had been caught stealing and that the police had been called.
He
