A former employee of fashion chain Footasylum has been spared jail after defrauding the company of more than £10,000.
Christopher Osbourne, 37, abused his position as a Customer Care Manager in a bid to solve his financial problems and fund a serious alcohol problem, a court heard.
Between March 2018 and January this year he began uploading cash onto Footasylum gift cards and distributing them to people, Manchester Magistrates' Court heard.
Joanne Cronshaw, prosecuting, said Osbourne "abused his position of trust" as a team leader in the company's customer service department to type up gift cards to a person named 'Adam Wilson'.
Osbourne described Mr Wilson as a 'friend of a friend'.
In total, £10,487 was fraudulently obtained over 10 months, the court heard.
Osbourne left Footasylum before the fraud was detected on the grounds of ill health.
But once it was detected, he was arrested and made a full confession to police officers, telling them: "I've been an absolute fool."
The court heard Osbourne did not appear to have used the cash to fund a 'lavish lifestyle' but was attempting to get himself out of a 'financial hole'.
At the time he was drinking around 18 cans of lager a night.
The court heard Osbourne has only one previous conviction for a driving offence.
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But he was cautioned over a similar incident of dishonesty while working as a hairdresser when he 'failed to put money in the till'.
Osbourne told the court he is no longer in contact with 'Adam' and is now seeking help from his GP for his health problems.
He is currently unemployed and lives alone in Rochdale.
Osbourne admitted one count of fraud and deputy district judge John Maxwell sentenced him to 16 weeks in jail, suspended for eighteen months.
He imposed a four-week curfew from 5pm to 5am and ordered him to pay £500 in compensation to Footasylum and attend ten rehab days.
"This is a very, very serious offence," the judge said.
"You are effectively stealing from an employer.
"You were in a position of trust and you abused that trust for a significant period of time."
Footasylum has recently been going through a difficult period, warning last September of a fall in profits.
It has since been subject to a bid of £90.1m from JD Sports to purchase the business.
"£10,000 is an awful lot of money," judge Maxwell.
"You bear some responsibility for the difficulties [experienced by Footasylum].
"I would very much like to order you to pay the full compensation but that is unrealistic."
Osbourne thanked the judge as he left the dock.
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