THE assistant manager of an Italian restaurant who skipped the country with almost £4,000 of takings has been jailed for 18 months.

Paul Anthony Crawford, 29, took the entire weekend's takings from Bella Pasta, now known as Bella Italia, in Low Petergate, York.

Prosecutors said he took £3,645 which was destined for the safe, and instead stuffed the bank bags with blank slips of paper.

The Irishman also cheated his girlfriend, Gemma Donoghue-Greaves, out of £2,500 by using her cheque book during his stay in York, before fleeing to Northern Ireland, via Spain.

A further £2,884 was stolen from a previous employer.

Prosecutor David Garnett told York Crown Court that Crawford had previous convictions for theft and deception in London and Glasgow, and had been imprisoned in the past for stealing from another employer.

Mitigating, John Shaw said Crawford committed the offences during a nomadic time in his life, after being discharged from the Army at the age of 20.

He said Crawford had made no attempt to hide his identify while he was living with his mother in Northern Ireland. Mr Shaw said: "He has everything now to contribute to society and has put behind him the type of offending that your honour has to deal with today."

The honorary recorder of York, Judge Paul Hoffman, jailed Crawford for 18 months.

He said: "You are a dishonest man when things aren't going your way."

He added: "You have been ripping-off your girlfriend over a period of time, which is indescribably mean.

"You have very little in the way of moral conscience."

Crawford was made assistant manager of the restaurant in spring 2003 and was in charge of its takings when on duty. For a time during his York stay, he lived at York Youth Hostel and his girlfriend allowed him to store his belongings in her Gillygate flat. She gave him a key so he could get to them.

But unknown to her, he took her cheque book from the flat and used it to siphon funds from her bank account to a Halifax account in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.

Crawford, of Lisburn, pleaded guilty to theft and three deceptions in York and asked for more similar offences to be taken into consideration.

Judge Hoffman jailed him for 18 months, and ordered him to pay £1,384 out of £1,500 cash he had brought to court to Miss Donoghue-Greaves as compensation.

Updated: 11:12 Wednesday, August 17, 2005