by Dave Burke

dave.burke@essnmedia.co.uk

A former pub manager helped himself to cash from his boozer's till after falling into financial difficulties.

As suspicion surrounded John Tate he then told "a string of lies" to try and avoid being caught.

But eventually his guilt became obvious and last Friday (August 7) the 28-year-old was handed a community order for the crime at Croydon Crown Court.

He had pleaded guilty to taking more than £300 from the till at The Good Companions, in Limpsfield Road, Hamsey Green.

But following the sentencing, his former boss criticised the court for being too lenient.

Mark Henderson, who took over the pub in November 2007, said: "He was always one step ahead of us because he knew what we were looking for.

"I was very angry when I found out about it.

"At the time we were really struggling, I couldn't even pay my VAT bills."

Mr Henderson added that Tate had tried to blame co-workers for the crime and stolen small amounts to try and avoid detection.

Hugh French, prosecuting, explained that each member of staff was given a separate key fob to operate the cash register.

He said: "It became apparent that some money was going missing from the pub.

"These records showed it was Mr Tate who was taking that money."

The thefts happened between May and August last year.

Defending Tate, Tana Adkin told the court: "It was a sad case, he had been working at The Good Companions since 2005, he'd been a manager and he'd worked hard.

"In 2008 he suffered financial problems and things became worse and worse."

Miss Adkin added that Tate had built up £10,000 of debts from loans and credit cards, and started stealing as an act of desperation.

She said: "He's thoroughly ashamed and embarrassed to be here."

But an unimpressed Judge Simon Pratt told Tate: "This was a grubby thing to have done.

"You were in financial difficulties, but you resorted to stealing money out of the till.

"You were abusing the trust your employer should have had in you."

Tate, of Oak Road, Caterham, was given a 12-month community order and told to do 160 hours of unpaid community work.