A trainee accountant stole almost £60,000 from the company he worked for to fund his drinking habit, a court heard.
Jake Currie used fake invoices to steal more than £58,000 from the travel firm he was working for, using the money to buy a car, a house, and having a good time.
At a hearing at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, it was said that the 26-year-old frittered away £40,000 on boozing, with the rest going on a £10,000 BMW, and £9,000 for his mortgage.
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It was only after Currie, from Stockport, was made redundant from his job at NUCO Travel and went on holiday to Canada that his successor spotted some anomalies in the company's finances.
They found that Currie had diverted thousands of pounds into three personal bank accounts, with almost £14,000 being transferred to a foreign currency card.
Speaking during the hearing, prosecutor Andrew Mackintosh said: "In March 2018 he began taking a large amount of sick leave and the accounts fell behind. His manager however saw him as a valuable employee and tried to get him back to work but this did not appear to work.
''In July 2018 he was called back to work but did not return then in the summer of 2018 he told the company he was going on holiday to Canada and they made him redundant.
"A new trainee was hired who noticed a number of discrepancies between invoices received and payments made on the system. Three accounts which were identified as belonging to the defendant were disguised as payments to company customers.
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"On 21 December 2018 the defendant's manager sent him an email saying the matter was being dealt with by police. Between 27 February and 3 September 2018 he transferred £58,127.27 from the company account to his own account in 22 fraudulent transfers.
"On 11 June 2018 he bought a £10,000 BMW with the money, on 27 December 2018 he paid £9,000 off his mortgage on his Stockport home and the remainder of the money was spent in other ways.
"On 21 March 2019 he was taken to the police station and gave 'no comment' replies at interview. This was sophisticated offending over a sustained period."
In a brief victim impact statement read out in court, the company's financial director who was not named said: "He has taken advantage of me and abused my trust."
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In mitigation, defence barrister Howard Bernstein said that Currie was seeking 'some sort of thrill or nihilistic pleasure' after his grandfather died.
He said: "The full amount could be paid off immediately by a loan from his mother.
"This is out of character as he is a 26-year-old man with no previous convictions who was leading an extremely useful and successful life up until that date.
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"He is now being treated for his mental health problems and is receiving prescription medication from a doctor.
"A report on him says he dealt very badly with the death of his grandfather whom he was very close to and the defendant became involved in this offending as a way of getting some sort of thrill or nihilistic pleasure.
"However he has managed to turn his life around and has a new job with a recruitment firm who know about this offending history and that seems to be going well. He has obvious remorse and total disgust when he considers his offending."
Sentencing Judge Bernadette Baxter told Currie: "You had every possible advantage in life with a loving family and good GCSEs and then A Levels. You went to university but that did not suit you so you got an apprenticeship.
"Many, many people in society did not have a fraction of the opportunities you had. You had an unfortunate life event and death can be very, very difficult.
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"However, I am afraid it is part of life and something we all have to build resilience towards, and millions do so without turning to crime. You did not have that resilience, perhaps because of your mental health problems or perhaps because you sought solace in drink.
"You breached the trust placed in you by your then employer and £58,000 is not a small sum of money.
"You did it in a state of mind where you felt sorry for yourself. You were spending the money on frivolous things, £9,000 on a mortgage and £10,000 payment towards a car.
"You have then drank and frittered away the rest of the money. I accept your behaviour was out of character for you."
Currie admitted fraud by abuse of position and converting criminal property. He was handed a two-year jail suspended for 24 months and was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.
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