HIGH-ROLLER Martin Howe bought drinks for everyone at his local pub after stealing more than £200,000 from work, a court was told yesterday.

The 26-year-old wore an expensive watch and diamond ring and went on exotic holidays, but in real life was a £5- an-hour clerk who wrote out his bosses' cheques to himself.

Howe, who worked for a firm of chartered surveyors, in Croft, got away with it for three years until he was questioned about a blank cheque stub, said Robert Terry, prosecting.

Dan Cordey, defending, told Teesside Crown Court: "He was the life and soul of his pub, he would buy everyone a drink, he was the most generous soul going."

Howe, of Fairfax Road, Middleton-St-George, was jailed for 18 months.

He told police that he began writing a cheque to himself when in debt, but his thieving spiralled.

He wrote 92 cheques from three clients' accounts before being challenged.

He was arrested last December and admitted full responsibility for the deficits, which included £171,000 from one account, £30,000 from another and £13,000 from a third.

He said that clients would sign blank cheques for him to use, and with others he forged the signature of his boss.

Mr Terry said: "He said he used the money to meet debts, and on jewellery, an expensive watch and ring, holidays, drinking and gambling and he would buy a huge number of Lottery tickets, lost money on gaming machines and at bookmakers.

"All the cheques were passed through his own account. No money was left."

Yesterday Howe admitted stealing £215,000 between December 1998 and November last year.

He pleaded guilty to 11 specimen offences of theft with another 72 taken into consideration.

Mr Cordey said that Howe, a man of previous good character, had resigned himself to going immediately to jail.

Howe told police: "I thought it was an easy way out. It has got totally out of hand and sooner or later I was going to be found out."

Mr Cordey said, that despite the thefts, Howe was now £27,000 in debt.