A York store manager at a major bakery chain stole more than £8,000 from his employer during a six-month thieving spree.
Nathan Church, 27, was responsible for cashing up and banking takings at Cooplands in Acomb, but in a gross breach of trust he funnelled thousands of pounds into his own account, York Crown Court heard.
After being rumbled several months after his thefts began, Church told his bosses at the bakery business that he had been mugged on the way to the bank, said prosecutor Brooke Morrison.
But the company’s area manager became suspicious after noticing discrepancies in the firm’s accounts and the matter was reported to police. A subsequent financial investigation revealed that Church had been plundering cash on an large scale.
Ms Morrison said there had been “multiple (cash) transactions” into Church’s account, “corresponding with cash going missing from Cooplands”.
Church, who worked at two Cooplands branches including York Road in Acomb, ultimately admitted stealing the money and appeared for sentence today.
The court heard he had form for stealing from employers – he had done so before during his previous employment at Thomas the Baker, where he again stole over £8,000.
Thomas the Baker fired him but didn’t report the matter to police, which meant that hitherto Church had no criminal record.
Church had landed a new job since his arrest for stealing from Cooplands – and now worked as a store manager at Greggs the bakers.
Badly in debt
Ms Morrison said Church had managed to conceal his deceit at Cooplands for between six and eight months by “tampering with the records”, namely by using old banking receipts to pretend that he had cashed the money.
He did so by removing the corner of the receipts which made it look like they were new cash deposits rather than old ones.
The offences occurred in the first half of 2021 when his bosses conferred a “high degree of trust” on Church as the store manager with his hands on the bakery’s cash.
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Ms Morrison said it was unclear exactly how much Church had stolen, but it was certainly “in excess of £8,000”.
She said it appeared that Church had since repaid some of the money to his former employer.
A probation officer said that Church, of Langholme Drive, York, was badly in debt at the time after taking out pay-day loans. He had stolen to pay off these debts while being bombarded with “dozens of red letters”.
Defence barrister Victoria Smithswain said Church was now repaying his debts, of about £11,000, through an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA).
She said that since his shameful behaviour at Cooplands, he had worked his way up at Greggs to become store manager.
She said the father-of-two was now able to support his family after years of mounting debts and sinking into a financial “black hole”.
Recorder Paul Reid told Church: “This is criminal conduct in breach of trust placed upon you by your employer.”
However, he noted that Church had spiralled into debt from an early age, had a family to support and had found another full-time job.
He said he had “just” been persuaded to suspend the inevitable jail sentence, partly due to the delay in the case reaching court and Church had “yet to reach full maturity, but you are getting there”.
The eight-month prison sentence was suspended for 18 months. Church was ordered to carry out 200 hours’ unpaid work and 35 rehabilitation-activity days.
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