A Bristol butcher who sold his boss's meat to pay off debts has been jailed.
Thomas Whitehouse worked at Ruby and White on Whiteladies Road from 2015, Bristol Crown Court heard.
But having been trusted to go to work early, unsupervised, it emerged he was stealing stock to order.
Whitehouse, 55, of Loveridge Close, Henbury, pleaded guilty to theft.
Judge Mark Horton jailed him for nine months.
He told Whitehouse: "Theft from an employer is always regarded as an extremely serious offence.
"The reason is that every employer has to trust certain people to allow them to deal with valuable assets of the business and to do so honestly."
Neil Treharne, prosecuting, said Whitehouse's boss, Adam Denton, was tipped off that his employee was selling meat to local pubs.
Mr Denton examined the shop's CCTV and discovered how Whitehouse arrived early, cut up meat, consulted his phone and recorded entries in a book - before removing it from the premises in a bin bag.
Police were called in but initially Whitehouse denied wrongdoing.
The Crown accepted Whitehouse's thefts amounted to a maximum value of £10,000 over a year.
James Bromige, defending, said in the mid-2000s his client was divorced and then got into gambling.
Mr Bromige told the court: "In 2019 his debts mounted up.
"He was stealing to feed a gambling addiction and clearing his debts."
The court heard since the offending came to light Whitehouse had moved to work full-time at a butcher's shop elsewhere - and had informed his new employer of his admission to theft.
