AN EMPLOYEE who stole from and defrauded his company to the value of more than £60,000 has been jailed.

Glenn Wilson, of Elder Road, Bere Regis, appeared at Dorchester Crown Court to be sentenced for offences of theft, fraud by abuse of position and fraud by false representation.

The 38-year-old had admitted the offences, which related to his employment with Dorset IT company Deane Computer Solutions, based in Poundbury.

Prosecutor Nicholas Cotter said the offences took place over a period of around five years from 2010 and the total gain obtained by the defendant was £63,890.

He said that Wilson began working for the company as an accounts manager in December 2009 and his role gave him the ability to order stock and process it for invoicing.

Mr Cotter said the defendant began stealing laptops and effectively undercutting his company, selling them to customers who contacted them at a lower price and receiving the funds in his personal account.

He added: “To cover his tracks he would alter the stock system to show items were no longer in the warehouse.”

The company detected one of the thefts in 2013 and, while Wilson admitted it, he said it was a one off and promised never to do it again.

He said that “from that point on he conducted himself in a slightly different way” and would still offer to sell items to people cheaper but instead of actually stealing the laptops and carrying them out of the building, he would alter invoices so the company would ship the goods itself.

Mr Cotter said he would then use customer credit card details to pay off small amounts of money to cover his tracks.

While the gain for Wilson was £63,890, the actual loss to Deane was in excess of £138,000 when taking into account loss of stock, loss of revenue, refunds to customers and investigating the matter, the court heard.

Tim Bradbury, mitigating, said his client made full admissions to the offences and described it as an “utterly shaming experience”.

He said that Wilson had honestly admitted his offending behaviour was ultimately motivated by greed and added that he was concerned about the “profound impact” a custodial sentence would have upon his family.

Judge Jonathan Foster sentenced Wilson to a total of 32 months in prison for the three offences.

Following the sentencing Matt Scott, managing director of Deane Computer Solutions, said: “As a company we are satisfied that Mr Wilson has been held to account for his actions.

"His actions impacted not only on our company, but our staff and customers alike.

"It would have been a travesty for him to have got a non-custodial sentence given the circumstances."