A betting shop cashier made a spur-of-the-moment decision to steal a five-figure sum from his employers.

Daniel Clarke, 21, was working at William Hill in the High Street, Halstead, last April when he forged a betting slip to pay £13,970 to his friend Daniel McLintock, 22.

Clarke, of Ronald Road, Halstead, admitted forging the slip and abusing his position and McLintock, of Rose Walk, Ridgewell, admitted acquiring criminal property.

The court heard McLintock had staked £30 on a virtual horse-racing tri-cast bet.

The self-employed commodities trader, who earns up to £50,000 a year, asked Clarke, who he had known for about four years, to place the money on numbers two, five and eight.

However, when he returned to the shop half an hour later he noticed the winning numbers had been two, seven and eight.

The pair then decided to alter the betting slip so the five looked like a seven.

Clarke then paid McLintock £2,000 in cash and made the rest of the payment by bank transfer.

Both men told police the cashier had made an initial error when McLintock placed the bet and he had simply been trying to rectify his mistake.

Sentencing the men Judge Patricia Lynch QC said she doubted they would ever appear in court again.

She said: “I take the view that a breach of trust is a serious matter and that you were both in it together, but the circstances were entirely opportunistic.

“It was a one-off incident, there is no long-term offending.

“You are both men of hitherto good character and you have lost that good character as a result of this.”

Both men were given a 12-month community order and 200 hours of community service.

McLintock was ordered to pay back the £2,000, which the court heard had already been transferred to his solicitor’s bank account.