A scrap metal driver who stole nearly £30,000 from his employers was "caught out by his own stupidity ".
Terrence McDonnell, 54, was a trusted worker at Merton Car Dismantlers, based in Hawthorne Road, Bootle .
But the dad-of-two regularly lined his own pockets, then made a laughable offer of compensation when rumbled.
Liverpool Crown Court heard McDonnell stole £29,855 during a 15-month period, from February 2017 to July 2018.
Benjamin Jones, prosecuting, said Merton Car Dismantlers was a family business of some 40 years' standing.
He said McDonnell was the main driver and "someone they came to know and trust over the years as a friend".
His job involved taking scrap metal, usually cars, to be disposed of at a European Metal Recycling site in Bootle.
McDonnell would enter with a lorry, remove scrap metal and it would be weighed in, with him receiving cash and a receipt for the company.
But he was separating and holding some of the load back, weighing it in for himself and keeping the money and receipts.
Mr Jones said he was "caught out by his own stupidity" after accidentally handing two of these fraudulent receipts to his employers.
Another staff member checked why the money hadn't been paid and found it had - into McDonnell's bank account.
The company discovered he had made 149 similar fraudulent transactions and confronted the thief.
He initially denied any wrongdoing, but then tried to claim the number was much less.
He offered to pay the company just £500 in compensation, plus the value of his old Volvo car.
McDonnell, of Barnton Close, Bootle, wasn't arrested until September 2018, when he made denials to police.
The crook, who has 25 previous convictions, denied theft and fraud, but pleaded guilty ahead of a trial.
Prosecutors accepted someone else must have been in on the scam and would likely have shared the rewards.
A victim statement revealed the crimes had "a significant impact" on the "sense of trust" of the firm's management.
McDonnell has multiple convictions for theft and burglary dating back to the early 1980s.
However, his last conviction for dishonesty before these offences was in 1995.
Stuart Nolan, defending, urged the judge to spare his client jail, who was now working as a cleaner to support his family.
He said the evidence against him was "compelling" and he would have pleaded guilty sooner but for his daughters, aged 19 and 22.
Mr Nolan said McDonnell's 19-year-old child lived with him and he wanted to make sure both their accommodation was settled.
He said: "He fell under the thrall of heroin at an early age. The crimes of burglary and theft were purely and simply to sustain his addiction."
The lawyer said McDonnell suffered a "very severe health threat" in 2004 when he had a heart attack and was given an artificial bowel.
Mr Nolan said he then put his criminal past behind him, save for an assault on a police officer during a domestic incident and possessing cannabis.
However, he said McDonnell had a "troubled" family life, supported an alcoholic partner and did his best to be a good father, while also caring for another person.
He said: "He's basically thrown that away."
Judge Robert Trevor-Jones accepted McDonnell put his dishonest ways behind him for a while, but said these were "serious matters".
He said: "This may not be a high breach of trust, but there is some element of trust between any employer and any employee, whatever be the job that they do provide for the firm or company concerned.
"You were the main driver for Merton Car Dismantlers, you had the opportunity when it presented itself to obtain this dishonest money, and you did."
The judge said he took into account McDonnell had a 19-year-old daughter at home and other responsibilities, but also the impact on the business.
McDonnell's two daughters sobbed in the public gallery as Judge Trevor-Jones jailed him for 14 months.
