Former Parklands Audi dealership manager Craig Wellings has been jailed and sales manager Gary Smith received a 12 month suspended jail sentence for their part in a £37,500 fraud at the Gloucester car dealership.

Smith, of Dorothy Crescent, Worcester, had admitted the fraud during a previous Gloucester Crown Court hearing.

The court was told that Smith was pressured into the crime by co-worker Craig Wellings, who has been sentenced this week to serve a year in prison.

Wellings, of Church Lane, Worcester, was the dealership manager and began the scam as he needed to pay bills and fund his lifestyle.

The duo had created 38 false £1,000 cashback transactions on sold cars, and filtered the money into a Wellings' account.

Financial investigators found no hard evidence that Smith had benefited from the fraud, and he had given a full admission of his part in the crime to police when he was arrested, the court was told.

The court heard that Smith had managed to find himself another job and that his new employer was aware of the proceedings.

He was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months and ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work.