A SPORTS club manager stole more than £1,800 from his employers after hiding from them the fact he had served time for theft.

Mark Glover, aged 31, of Royal Court Drive, Bolton, did not mention his conviction for stealing from a previous workplace when he applied for the job at Wigan's JJB Soccerdome last year.

In March, staff noticed money had gone missing from the centre's health club suite, Liverool Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Katherine O'Donoghue said the £618 had been put in a tamper-proof bag and given to Glover to hand to a security firm.

A few days later, another bag went missing and police were called.

When officers arrested Glover and searched his home, they found a number of tamper proof bags, JJB paying-in slips, a cheque and change, she said.

In court, he pleaded guilty to three theft offences involving a total of £1,872, obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception and breach of bail.

Jailing him for nine months and three days, Judge Ian Trigger said: "Having obtained your job by dishonest means, within a few months you succumbed to temptation to steal again from your employer and you stole on three separate occasions.

"Your previous conviction means no second chance can be given to you."

David Pojur, defending, said that Glover has a gambling problem which was responsible for his previous conviction. He worked for five years at the Bolton football centre without problem but in his new job returned to his gambling ways because he was going through a divorce and had a demanding job.

"He struggles when under pressure and makes the wrong decisions. He is currently living in a flat, has been referred by Gamblers Anonymous and wants to pay off his £6,000 debts," he added.