A MAN who plundered tens of thousands of pounds from work to fund his gambling, drugs, boozing and use of prostitutes, has walked free from court.

David Russell adjusted invoices to siphon almost £44,000 meant to go to Vastern Timber, of Royal Wootton Bassett, into his bank account.

And Russell, 28, also abused his position as the 'lead tenant' in the Swindon house share where he lived to pocket thousands more in housemates' rent.

But after hearing he was trying to rebuild his life a judge imposed a suspended sentence.

Rob Welling, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that Russell started working at the timber yard in January 2015 and was trusted by his bosses.

But by November that year he had started to send invoices to customers with his own bank details in place of the company's.

When the money arrived he would pay a small amount into the firm's coffers and adjust the stock records to cover up what he had done.

Mr Welling said when the person who formerly did his job noticed her details had been used in the computer system to adjust stock orders an inquiry was started.

As a result of the crime he said bosses at the timber yard said they had become far less trusting of staff.

They also had a large VAT bill for the adjusted invoices and also had to contact customers as they traced his activity.

When he was questioned he said he had been spending £400 a month on alcohol, £600 a month on cocaine and almost £34,000 had gone on gambling.

"The defendant would also boast that he would spend the money on prostitutes," Mr Welling said.

He said although the defendant was charged with taking almost £44,000, the loss to the company was £38,327 as he paid in about £5,000 to cover his deception.

At around the same time he said Russell was living in a shared house where he had the role of lead tenant.

That meant he collected rent from the others but instead of paying it to the landlord and on the utility bills he kept it for himself, cheating them out of about £5,000.

Russell, formerly of Swindon Road but now of The Crown, Tolldown, Dyrham, near Chippenham, admitted fraud and money laundering.

Mike Pulsford, defending, said he was sorry for what he did and felt he had lost his good standing among colleagues, friends and family.

He said he had enjoyed working at Vastern but his offending had been borne out of addiction.

After stopping taking drugs he was now going to Gamblers Anonymous and is trying to rebuild his life with a job in a pub as he tried to pay off his £15,000 of debts.

Passing sentence Judge Douglas Field said: "This is a serious case of fraud concerning your former employers, it is a clear breach of trust.

"It went on over a considerable period of time. You were covering your tracks and they ended up having a shortfall of £38,327: a considerable amount of money.

"Not only that they have been put to the inconvenience and embarrassment of customers who were affected. They must feel very bitter and let down by your activity.

"I have decided that it is not in the public interest to impose an immediate sentence of imprisonment."

He imposed a two-year jail term suspended for 24 months with 120 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation activity requirement.