A BAR supervisor stole £5,000 from the safe and went on the run for seven weeks to Wales.
Preston Crown Court was told that Gary Baker eventually handed himself in to police and confessed his crime.
Baker, 20, of Manor Road, Blackburn, had been committed to the Crown Court for sentence for one count of theft.
The court heard Baker had been the bar supervisor of the Adelphi Hotel in Blackburn.
The licensee had gone away in April and other staff noticed Baker was acting strangely and was not himself.
Roger Baldwin, defending, said Baker had access to the safe and had taken the weekend's takings. He went to South Wales for seven weeks and spent the money during that time.
"He got on the roundabout and the music was not stopping," said Mr Baldwin.
On May 21, he came back to Blackburn and contacted his solicitors. On May 25 he handed himself in and made frank admissions to police.
Baker had saved, borrowed and begged £450 to help re-pay what he had taken.
He was sentenced to 80 hours community punishment and 12 months community rehabilitation.
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