A PART-TIME sales advisor sold his shop’s stock on eBay because his employers did not let him work full-time, York magistrates heard.

Luke John Smith regularly topped up his wages by taking valuable items from deliveries to Jessops’ Piccadilly store and then claiming they had not been delivered. Then he put them up for auction on the internet website and pocketed the proceeds.

For 17 months, he got away with his regular thefts – until management spotted their electronic items on eBay when doing internet checks, said Jeffrey Lill, prosecuting.

Between January 2009 and May 19, 2010, he had stolen cameras and other items worth £4,567 from the shop and sold most of them.

Smith, 21, of World Croft, Sutton-on-Derwent, pleaded guilty to theft. Magistrates said he told probation officers he blamed his employers for his crimes because they had turned down his request to work full-time.

“It was breach of trust over a prolonged period,” said magistrate Penny Curry, sitting with two colleagues. They gave Smith a 16-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months on condition he did 200 hours’ unpaid work. He must also pay £1,000 compensation. The theft led to his sacking for gross misconduct.

Mr Lill said Smith told police he had spent the money on food, rent and domestic bills.

Mark Thompson, for Smith, said it was an economic crime.

Smith had worked for 16 hours a week as a sales advisor for two or three years. He came from a family of high achievers and had come to York to be with his girlfriend. But he was isolated socially and now faced the prospect of trying to get work with a conviction of stealing from an employer.