AN "overworked" and "stressed" hotel boss who helped himself to his employers' cash and food to reward himself for putting in long hours may be facing jail.

Burnley magistrates heard how "despondent" Steven Burnett, 29, then general manager of the Comfort Hotel in the town, also falsified accounts to the tune of more than £3,700, including £2,320 to cover up when an unhappy local organisation refused to pay up after a Sportsmans Dinner.

The defendant, of Neale Street, Long Eaton, Nottingham, was bailed until March 3 for sentence and was told all options would be open.

Burnett admitted two allegations of false accounting and two counts of theft, involving £1,750, and food worth £167 from Friendly Hotels, between 1998 and 1999. He had no previous convictions.

Nigel Harrison, prosecuting, said Burnett falsified accounting records and "misappropriated" money. He took about £50 a week from car parking at the Keirby Walk hotel and used the proceeds partly for expenses at the hotel and partly for himself.

Burnett, who did not benefit from the false accounting, hid the £2,230 outstanding debt because he did not want his bosses to know there had been a customer complaint. He used the food for a children's birthday party.

Philip Turner, defending, described Burnett as a hard-working, family man, who after working as deputy manager for Friendly Hotels since 1994, became general manager at the Comfort in August 1997.

He found the hotel was unprofitable. It had a high turnover of managers, a number of accounting procedures were not explained and he found himself under considerable pressure to make the hotel a success. Burnett was travelling from Nottingham and working unsociable hours, which put pressure on his relationship with his wife. In April 1998, she had a baby and gave up work.

Burnett felt trapped as he could not give up the job and became ill. The defendant's employers decided to "de-skill" the kitchen and he found himself having to prepare food. Mr Turner went on: "He went from early optimism to a feeling of despondency. He felt trapped, isolated and that he wasn't being treated fairly. He accepts he started to take liberties. In December 1998, he was admitted to hospital suffering from extreme stress."

Mr Turner added Burnett panicked when the sports organisation refused to pay for the dinner and credited some of the money paid by another group to the organisation's bill. He started to withhold £50 a week and also felt justified in using the food for a party because of the long hours he was working.

The defendant, who was sacked from the Comfort, now had alternative work in hotel management in the Midlands and was saving to reimburse his former employers. The loss he caused to them was less than £2,000.

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