AN EMBITTERED delivery driver with a Workington firm swindled his employer by taking fuel worth more than £5,000 for himself.

Conor Joseph McGee, 29, who became depressed after his RAF career failed to work out, illegally used a company payment card over several months, at one stage filling containers with fuel so that he could sell it for profit, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

He admitted two counts of fraud.

Prosecutor Tim Evans told the court that the defendant, of Newlands Lane South, Workington, was hired in September, 2019, to work as a driver by the Workington based linen and laundry service provider Shortridge.

But in December that year he was involved in a traffic accident, which led to him being dismissed for gross misconduct in February, 2020.

In January that year, said Mr Evans, the firm received an email claiming McGee was using a company fuel car to steal fuel. When this was investigated, the claim was shown to be true.

There were around 50 illegal transactions at two local garages. The illegal transactions carried on even after the defendant was dismissed, said Mr Evans.

The total value of the illegally taken fuel was £5,059 - and of this all but £450 was taken after McGee left the firm.

"He accepted that he had filled drums with fuel and used to sell it privately," said Mr Evans.

"He also accepted it was stupid and he should not have done it." In a victim personal statement, the company said the defendant had taken advantage of the trust placed in him.

Recorder Eric Lamb told McGee that the "many" character references handed in to the court spoke with one voice about a very different side to the defendant's character.

"You began with high hopes," said the judge, referring to the defendant's brief RAF career. "Unfortunately, that didn't work out for you.

"Your leaving the RAF seems to have led to depression and at times a reliance on substances which may be in part an explanation of your conduct on this occasion.

"You became embittered because of the way in which your employer dealt with a traffic collision when it seems you were not on the approved route in your delivery vehicle.

"And that feeling, being embittered, plainly led you to the commission of these offences, which were nonetheless financially motivated."

But the judge accepted that McGee, who has no previous convictions, was genuinely remorseful.

He imposed eight months jail, suspending the sentence for a year, and ordered McGee to do 100 hours un unpaid work, adding: "There is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation."