A FORMER steward helped himself to £6,500 from the till and spent it on the club's fruit machine, a court was told.

Andrew Calleja, 33, kept two separate records to cover up the fact he was gambling away some of the bar takings at Earby Central Workingmen's Club, Burnley Crown Court heard.

Calleja, who has previous convictions for theft, was jailed for three months after Judge Raymond Bennett said the thing all members of any club feared was that the steward would "betray" them.

Judge Bennett added: "Honesty behind the bar is of paramount importance to members of a club. If there isn't honesty there, then the members can suffer and in extreme circumstances, the club may close."

Calleja, of Highfield Road, Earby, had earlier admitted four counts of furnishing false information with intent to deceive between June and December 1997.

Kevin Donnelly, prosecuting, said Calleja was employed at the club from Summer 1995.

In early 1998, the club's accountant noticed discrepancies between the weekly takings figures recorded by Calleja in the bar book and the stock taking records, which should match.

The treasurer showed the stock taker the bar book and she said it was not the same book regularly presented to her.

Calleja had been keeping two separate bar books, one for stock taking and one for the accountant, to hide taking money from the till.

Dennis Watson, defending, said Calleja had worked extremely long hours and began to play the fruit machine.

The bar profits went down while the gaming machine profits went up.

The loss to the club was less than £6,500, because a lot of the money went back into the club.

Calleja did not spend the money on high living or to feather his own nest.

He said Calleja was bitterly sorry. The shame he felt was all the more acute because he had a 10-year-old daughter.

Mr Watson went on: "The defendant has kept out of trouble all his adult life.

"This will be his first sentence for many, many years."

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