A TRAINEE manager at the Tesco supermarket in Dalgety Bay stole cash to feed his gambling addiction.

Christopher Bermingham, 24, took £55 from the till on three occasions and later told police that he took it as he “had an urge” and quickly used the money to place bets online.

Appearing for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court on Wednesday, Bermingham, of Selvage Street, Rosyth, had admitted that on October 12 and 13, 2017, at Tesco in Regents Way, he embezzled £165.

Depute fiscal Dev Kapadia said Bermingham was employed as a general assistant at the store and was going through the training process required to become a manager so also had the title of trainee manager.

A member of the shop’s cash office had raised a query regarding a sum of £55 which had been paid out. It was identified that it had come from Bermingham’s operator number and, when questioned, he said it had been for a mobile phone refund.

Further checks were carried out and another two refund slips were found to be missing and both were tracked back to him.

When CCTV was checked, Bermingham was seen at the till with a shelf label in his hand. He put it through a transaction, opened the till and removed cash before walking away.

When interviewed by police, he admitted taking £55 on each occasion.

He said he had a problem with gambling and told them: “I knew it was wrong what I did but I just had an urge.”

He told them he had spent the money immediately with two betting companies, that he had gambled thousands of pounds and the habit had “ruined part of his life”.

Solicitor Elaine Buist said her client had since managed to overcome his addiction to gambling.

“His comment to the police officers that it had ruined part of his life was probably quite accurate,” she said.

“His gambling problem was in the thousands, close to £20,000 worth of debt, which he is repaying. He has a plan set out for the repayments which will take another four-and-a-half years to repay.

“He has not gambled £20,000. Things spiralled out of control when he resorted to payday loans which appeared to have a huge interest rate.

“He totally understands the issue with an incident like this with an employee in a position of trust. He is fully aware why the court is so uncomfortable with offences of this nature.”

Sheriff Charles Macnair placed Bermingham on a community payback order requiring him to do 135 hours of unpaid work within six months.

He told him: “You were employed by Tesco in a responsible role, namely a trainee manager. You abused your position, you abused the trust which your employers had put in your hands and you embezzled a sum of £165.

“In the grand scheme of things, it is not a huge amount but it is the breach of trust which makes it so serious rather than the amount involved.”