A car salesman, already on bail for theft from one UK franchised dealer group, joined another dealership and pocketed another £16,500 before getting caught.

A relationship breakdown led Lee David Arnold on a “catastrophic descent” to gambling and alcohol addictions, Jersey’s Royal Court was told, while he worked as a sales manager at Motor Mall CI on the island in 2016.

Arnold had paid cheques for £11,400 from the sale of a Honda and Peugeot into his own account while at Motor Mall, the court heard, and on another occasion gave his own bank account details for a buyer to pay £4,800 into.

After being interviewed by police, during which he admitted stealing to support a gambling habit, Arnold was released on bail. He then joined another dealer group, Freelance CI, and within three months was at it again, pocketing £16,500 from the same of two cars.

The Jersey Evening Post reports that Deputy Bailiff Tim Le Cocq described the crimes as ‘blatant breaches of trust’, and a statement from Freelance said his offending had left a ‘lasting impression on the business’.

Arnold admitted four counts of larceny as a servant and one count of embezzlement. He was jailed for a total of two years and three months.