Leeds store manager stole £51,000 of stock to fund £300-a-day cocaine habit
He has a previous conviction for fraud
A store manager at an insulation firm stole tools worth more than £51,000 to help fund his spiralling cocaine habit.
Andrew Betteridge, who defrauded a previous employer in Cheshire, was spared immediate custody for a second time.
The 41-year-old admitted theft from employer, but only on the day he was due to stand trial at Leeds Crown Court.
The sneaky thief had continued to deny the matter, despite previously confessing to his bosses.
Prosecutor Jordan Millican said Betteridge had been the manager at Minster on Britannia Road in Morley, an insulation and plaster specialist firm.
Between September 2022 and May 2023 he stole 107 Paslode nail guns worth a total of £51,103.
He placed orders for the guns at more than eight of the company’s stores around the UK, but raised suspicion when he went to collect them himself rather than use a courier.
Betteridge would then cover his tracks on the firm’s system. The nail guns were never recovered.
He was eventually called in for a meeting where he confessed to taking the items, blaming the cost of living and his cocaine habit, saying he was being threatened by dealers.
Betteridge, of Tasman Close, Warrington, was suspended from the company.
The court heard he had defrauded thousands of pounds worth of items from his previous employer at an electrical business, saying his cocaine habit had spiralled.
He was given a nine-month sentence, suspended for 24 months at Chester Crown Court in 2024.
A probation report into his latest offending suggested Betteridge has problems with ADHD and PTSD.
He claimed he “got in with the wrong crowd” and was spending up to £300 a day on cocaine.
Mitigating, Simran Garcha said he was offending during “acute mental-health concerns” and had thoughts of suicide.
She said Betteridge was undergoing private therapy and was “ashamed” of his actions.
She said he had offered to repay the money owed to Minster, having paid up in full the money owed to his previous employer.
The judge, Recorder Simon Ward told Betteridge: “You breached a high degree of trust.
“I accept your remorse at face value. You were in very serious debt and abusing cocaine.”
He said Betteridge had overcome his drug addiction and had taken “significant steps” to turn his life around.
He gave him a new 32-month sentence, suspended for three years, and ordered him to complete 250 hours of unpaid work.
No compensation order was made.