A gambling addict who swindled a company where he was a trusted employee out of more than $50,000 has been jailed for three months.

Keith Martin abused his cashier’s position at Robinson’s Marine gas station to pull off a complex scam involving falsifying transaction records.

Puisne judge Carlisle Greaves sentenced the 55-year old, of Third Avenue, Pembroke, to a year in prison. However, he will serve just three months with the rest suspended for three years — as long as he stays away from gaming venues and pays the cash back in installments.

“You should have a poor Cup Match because you should not be able to play Crown and Anchor. All forms of gambling are off limits to you,” the judge warned.

Speaking after the Supreme Court hearing on Friday, Malcolm Swan, managing director of Robinson’s Marine in Somerset, said he was pleased the case had come to an end.

However, he said he was “a little disappointed” with the outcome, as he had been looking forward to getting all the cash back straightaway.

“Since we are a small business, even though it might not be a lot of money to some people—we would have used it to buy inventory. We would have been that little bit further ahead with the business,” he told The Royal Gazette.

Mr. Swan described Martin as a trusted employee of some 23 years with the gas station, and “virtually an adopted son” of the family that founded it.

“They had all the trust in him. It was a bit of a shock when they realised what he was doing,” he said.

Martin committed the fraud over the course of four months in 2002, getting caught when the company bookkeeper noticed accounting discrepancies. Mr. Swan said that when Martin’s employers initially confronted him with their suspicions, they felt for him and told him to come back in two weeks and tell them what had happened. Instead, said Mr. Swan, “his lawyer called us and said he needed two weeks’ salary”.

Mr. Swan claimed part of the delay in the ensuing case coming to court was because the Police were overstretched with work and short on manpower.

However, he praised the Fraud Squad for doing an “extremely thorough job” in investigating what he described as a “deep and complicated” case.

Martin, who has been fired from his job, pleaded guilty in May to falsifying accounts at Robinson’s Marine with intent to defraud.

He had also been charged with stealing a total of $54,604 from the firm, but did not enter a plea. The Crown agreed for this matter to lie on file, not to be proceeded with.

At the sentencing hearing, defence lawyer Mark Pettingill - who did not act for Martin at the time of the missed salary threat - said his client has a gambling problem.

He pledged that Martin would pay the missing $54,604 back at $2,000 per month plus interest, but that a lump sum was not possible.

Martin himself said: “I want to apologise to the court and to Mr. Robinson. I’m ashamed and embarrassed. This will never happen again.”

Mr. Justice Greaves ordered the compensation to be paid at the rate suggested by Mr. Pettingill, and for Martin to complete three years of probation after his release from jail.