from the scam to buy medicine for his desperately sick wife, a court heard yesterday.

Roland Wilkinson, 51, told Puisne Judge the Hon. Mr. Justice Ward of his deep concern for her.

"I feel so very frightened,'' he said.

Wilkinson, of St. John's Road, was yesterday jailed for nine months at the Supreme Court after admitting stealing from his employers, Gorham's Ltd.

Mr. Justice Ward told Wilkinson, who has since been sacked, he had committed a serious breach of trust. He added, however, he had taken into account how a jail sentence would cause hardship to his wife.

At an earlier hearing in February Wilkinson's co-accused, Jerome Glenn Wellman, was also jailed nine months.

Wellman, of Pearman Hill, Hamilton Parish, had admitted theft from Gorham's between November 1990 and February last year. The Supreme Court had heard how the pair took part in a false credit invoice scheme.

Wellman, who worked as a salesman in the firm's lumber shed, filled out bogus invoices for various charge accounts. Under the scheme, he and ex-yard porter Wilkinson would take an order from a customer who wanted goods cheap.

They would ask for 50 percent of the retail value of the items, mainly building materials, to be paid in cash.

Wellman would then make out a sales invoice charged to a customer's account for goods ordered -- and then credit the same amount back to the customer's account as returned goods. The pair would split the cash they received.

Yesterday Crown Counsel Mr. Brian Calhoun told the court: "This is a breach of a position trust involving the theft of a fairly substantial amount of money, around $20,000.'' He accepted, however, there were mitigating circumstances in Wilkinson's case, including his cooperation with Police, guilty plea, and fears for his diabetic wife, who has a heart problem.

Mr. Calhoun also accepted there could be no great difference between Wilkinson's sentence and that of Wellman.

Mr. Philip Perinchief, defending, dubbed Wellman the "mastermind and controller'' of the scam.

He said Wellman, although only aged 27, was better educated, a smooth talker, and in a more senior position than Wilkinson.

"This is clearly a case of a vulnerable, older man allowing himself to be cajoled and influenced by a younger man with fewer obligations. That is not to say he shouldn't have resisted the temptation but there are mitigating circumstances.'' Mr. Perinchief said his client had previously had an unblemished and untainted record with the firm, where he had worked 14 years.

"When Wellman arrived at the firm there was clearly a change of atmosphere.'' Mr. Perinchief said Wilkinson had only received a small sum from the scheme -- and had spent it all on his wife.

He added his client had since lost the respect of his friends and relatives, and would have difficulty finding employment again.

Mr. Perinchief said the retail value of the goods stolen amounted to $17,554.

But this did not reflect their actual value which came to around $8,000, he added. Mr. Perinchief also claimed Gorham's had withheld $6,000 owing to Wilkinson.