A SHOP worker was caught stealing £83 worth of scratch cards and ringing up a false refund so he could steal £20.

Danny Clayton, 23, had been working at a One Stop convenience store but was captured on a live feed, which was being beamed into head office, stealing the cash and lottery scratch cards.

He admitted two counts of theft by employee when he appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

Simon Bravery, prosecuting said: “He had been employed by One Stop when on December 18 last year he was seen by a live feed to be refunding a £20 bottle of whiskey and taking the money. No customer had asked for a refund.

“He was also caught taking scratch cards, scratching them off and throwing them away.”

Clayton had been asked to pay a £103 penalty ticket notice which would have meant he avoided court but failed to do so.

Representing himself, Clayton, of All Saints Avenue, Colchester, put his actions down to stupidity.

He said: “I cannot say anything more than I made some wrong choices and I was stupid.

“I had not been able to pay the fine because I have been going through a breakup and have just lost my job at Budgens because of unreliability.

“I was willing to pay the fine but lost the paperwork. I am now looking for work and have been offered jobs but did not want to take them until I knew I was going to walk out of the court.

“Hopefully when I leave here I can go straight to the job centre, sign on, start getting some money in, pay the fine and move on with my life.”

Magistrates ordered Clayton to complete 50 hours of unpaid work as part of a 12 month community order and told him the punishment was severe because of the breach of trust and pre-planning of his thefts.

He must pay £103 compensation to the store.