A SUPERMARKET employee who stole thousands of pounds worth of scratchcards from Sainsbury's has walked free from court after a judge heard he had a job at a rival shop.

Dad-of-two Andrew Menday, 33, plundered the instant win lottery tickets while he was working the nightshift at his local Sainsbury's.

And Menday was also seen helping himself to joints of beef and bottles of booze when the store's CCTV was examined.

But after hearing he now had a job at Asda a judge gave him a 'last chance' - and a lecture about getting help for his debts.

Hannah Squire, prosecuting, said Menday was senior team leader responsible for replenishment on the night shift at the Royal Wootton Bassett branch of Sainsbury's.

Late last year it was apparent various items were going missing and a stock take of scratchcards showed a loss of more than £10,000 worth.

Store investigators looked at the CCTV but as the footage is only kept for 30 days it did not cover much of the time when things were going missing," she said.

When they looked at the tape they spotted Menday stealing from work on 13 separate occasions.

"They viewed it and it was Mr Menday taking scratchcards, alcohol and food on various occasions," she said.

"What has hampered the supermarket and police is they are unable to fins how much was taken.

"On one occasion in CCTV from another Sainsbury's he was seen cashing in one of the scratchcards."

She said another problem investigators had was that Camelot would not reveal how many of the stolen cards had been winners, and where they were cashed.

"They have not been forthcoming in saying how many times he has been lucky in cashing in any winnings," she said.

When he was questioned by police he made no comment despite being shown the footage of him stealing on 13 occasions.

Menday, of Blain Place, Royal Wootton Bassett, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft.

He stole scratchcards between November 9 and December 9 and food and drink between November 14 and December 4.

The court heard he had a previous conviction from 2002 for theft and opening postal packets.

John Lynch, defending, said his client accepted he had stolen items worth between £2,500 and £3,000 and not the £10,000 which is alleged was missing.

He said that despite his new employers knowing about the conviction he had got a job at Asda and is the main breadwinner in the family.

The couple have debts of about £16,000 and his wife also works part-time as well as caring for their children aged one and four.

Passing sentence Judge Peter Blair QC said: "This is your last chance. Stealing from employers is treated by courts extremely seriously.

"You are lucky Asda has decided to employ you. With a record like yours there are a lot of people who would give their eye teeth for employment.

"You are clearly someone who is capable of doing a good job of work but you have got light fingers."

He imposed a six-month jail term suspended for two years with 180 hours of unpaid work.

And he told him he was concerned about his finances, saying there were agencies like Christians Against Poverty and the Citizens Advice Bureaux which could help.