A catering company worker has admitted fiddling his employer of $78,817 and then wiping the details of his dishonest dealings off the firm's computer.
Gregory Lynn Woodhouse, 54, of Woodend, near Rangiora pleaded guilty in Christchurch District Court today to 26 charges of theft and was remanded on bail for sentencing on September 10.
Judge Graeme Noble ordered a report on Woodhouse's suitability for home detention and a reparation report.
Defence counsel Gerald Lascelles told the judge that Woodhouse, who also faces paying back $15,880 the company spent on investigating the thefts, had raised $40,000 to be paid towards reparation, and was now working for a new employer.
The court was told that Woodhouse was dismissed on November 8 last year, and handed over his keys and access cards.
At 9pm that night, he used another access card that he had at home and went into the catering firm's Harewood premises where he collected personal items and then erased from the computer a spreadsheet which contained financial details of his dishonest dealings.
Woodhouse admitted keeping payments from catering services carried out by the company, and not banking the takings from some of the firm's cafes.
The charges refer to thefts of amounts ranging from $128 to $17,600.
Woodhouse has no previous convictions.
