Bournemouth: Hotel Manager Jailed For Theft
12 January 2015, 11:33 | Updated: 12 January 2015, 11:53
A Bournemouth hotel manager has been jailed for 27 months for stealing £26,000 from his employer.
Thomas Lees, of Holsworthy in Devon, pleaded guilty at Bournemouth Crown Court on 18 November 2014 to four counts of theft.
He was sentenced on Friday 9 January 2015 at the same court.
The court heard Lees was working as assistant manager of the Cumberland Hotel on East Overcliff Drive when it was discovered the 26-year-old had been refunding fictitious bottles of spirits and other high-value items and pocketing the money.
Lees used other staff member’s names to facilitate the transactions.
An audit was carried out and revealed Lees had been committing the offences for over two years.
Police searched Lees’ accommodation and found £4,000 in casino bags.
Further investigations revealed Lees had also issued fictitious refunds at the Suncliffe sister hotel, where he worked for six weeks in July 2012.
Detective Constable Karen Penn, of Bournemouth CID, said: “Lees used his position at the hotel to defraud his employers of a large amount of money over a sustained period. He clearly thought he was going to get away with it.
“I hope the sentence handed to Lees sends out a very strong message that crime as this will not be tolerated in Dorset.”