Ross Stanley, a gambling addict, was sentenced to jail for stealing over £4,100 from his employer and spending it at the local bookmakers’ shops.
The 30-year-old man, who used to be a deputy manager at the American Golf store in Stoke-on-Trent, faced allegations of misappropriation of funds from his former employer and using it to fuel his problem gambling. The man, who has previously been convicted for stealing money from his employer, and now the Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court sent him to jail for a period of eight months.
As revealed by Prosecutor Amanda O’Mara, the man was in charge of the American Golf store last August, while his manager was away. Part of his obligations at the time included the takings’ banking every week. However, when the manager of Stanley returned, he found that there has not been any record of such bankings. Stanley explained that he was ill and lied that he had banked the money but further enquiries proved otherwise.
The overall amount stolen by the man from his employer was estimated at £4,189.13.
At the time he was questioned by the police, Ross Stanley confessed he was suffering from problem gambling. It also turned out that the young man tried to return what he had taken but ended up losing even more money. Eventually, he had not repaid the money.
Gambling Addiction Brought Stanley Financial Difficulties
Stanley pleaded guilty to stealing money from his employer.
As mentioned above, he had a previous conviction, which included him leaving the restaurant where he was employed at the time after taking £180 in November 2015. For that offence, the court imposed a 12-week suspended jail sentence.
At the court’s hearing, it became clear that the defendant has been addicted to gambling for the last ten years. His gambling problem dates back to the time when he worked at Alton Towers’ arcades and got worse when he started playing poker. Stanley confessed that his compulsive gambling only brought him financial difficulties and pushed him to the commission of the offence.
The court heard that Stanley committed the offence in order to gamble. It became clear that he went to the bookmakers on the very same day of cashing the money and gambled it. He intended to replace the sum but lost again. The court, however, shared a belief that there is a genuine prospect of rehabilitation, as long as the defendant is given the change to sort his gambling addiction out.
The man has been suffering from his addiction to gambling for a considerable period of time. There has not been evidence for him trying to get professional help for dealing with the problem, so his compulsive gambling has deteriorated over the years, to lead him to his first offence in 2015, and now, to the one which got him jailed.
- Author
Daniel Williams
