THE FORMER manager of a Plymouth surfwear shop stole more than £10,000 in cash from his employers to feed a gambling addiction, a court heard.

Nick Hawke, aged 25, admitted three counts of theft from the Freespirit surf shop in New George Street between January and March this year, and asked for five similar offences to be taken into consideration by the judge.

Hawke was ordered to pay thousands of pounds in costs and compensation.

At Plymouth Crown Court yesterday, prosecutor Alastair Verheijen said one of Hawke's duties as shop manager was to bank the shop's takings at the end of the day. He said that one day a co-worker who had become suspicious of Hawke came in early and found two envelopes full of cash in the shop office.

She called the area manager, and it was found that a total of £10,373 had not been banked, Mr Verheijen said. A small amount has since been recovered.

The court heard that Hawke, of Ferndale Avenue, Weston Mill, had admitted the thefts to police at the earliest opportunity, and was willing to repay the money.

Judge Francis Gilbert QC told Hawke: "The probation officer says you were in the grip of a gambling addiction and that you stole in order to place bets and then stole more in order to recoup what you had lost."

The court also heard that Hawke had accumulated more than £17,000 in a Ladbrokes betting account, which had been frozen by order of the court at an earlier hearing.

Mr Verheijen asked the judge to order compensation to Freespirit of £9,756, and to confiscate the rest of the money as a proceed of crime.

But the judge, while ordering Hawke to pay the compensation, prosecution costs of £1,385, and the costs of his own defence, said the defendant could keep the rest of the money.

Judge Gilbert said that because Hawke had no previous convictions for dishonesty, the loss would be compensated, and he had expressed remorse and taken steps to stop gambling, the six-month prison sentences imposed for each of the three counts of theft would be suspended for two years.

Judge Gilbert told the 25-year-old: "You have lost your job and lost your good name."

The judge also ordered Hawke to complete 160 hours unpaid work in the community, which he said would help get him "back in a sensible frame of mind".