A café manager who stole thousands of pounds and fled to the Balearic Islands was spared prison by York Crown Court.

David Flynn, 39, was a manager at the York Hospital branch of Costa Coffee, when he stole £6,732.98 in takings from the office safe on July 25.

He then went straight to Leeds Bradford Airport and bought a ticket for the next day’s flight to Menorca, where he stayed for several weeks.

Simon Ostler, prosecuting, said Flynn, now of Whitecliffe Crescent, Swillington, Leeds, had turned out the lights of the office to avoid being captured on CCTV.

Jayne Dodson, speaking for Flynn, said his crime was committed to escape personal debts of £38,000, and underlying psychiatric issues led him to steal the money and flee the country.

Ms Dodson told the court Flynn had “expressed remorse and shame”, during police interviews after he was arrested on his return to the UK in September, and had agreed to repay the money.

Sentencing Flynn, the judge Mr Chris Batty called the theft “a pathetic attempt”, and “a very ham- fisted and bizarre crime”, but said he would not pass the full sentence of 18 weeks in prison, as he felt Flynn had probably learned a very valuable lesson.

He said: “People who take from their employers go into custody, particularly when they take significant amounts like you did.

“What you actually did rather than pay off debt you had accrued was enjoy yourself and get away from it all.”

Mr Batty said he had taken into account Flynn’s early guilty plea and mental health issues, and agreed that he was able to work in the community to help repay his debt. Flynn was sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and will be subject to supervision and must complete 200 hours of unpaid work in the community.