A CROOKED bookie with a gambling addiction was backing a loser when he embarked on a betting scam to fleece his bosses.

For Cristopher Carroll's crude con - described as "blatantly obvious" in court - was uncovered as soon as an audit was carried out.

Investigators found that the shop manager had been placing wagers with company cash and collecting from the tills when he won.

They also discovered that 28-year-old Carroll created fictitious winning customers to cover the times when his bets failed to come off.

In all, he pocketed £2,050 from five winning wagers, but lost his company a further £16,281 from 17 gambles that went wrong.

Father-of-one Carroll, from Thornaby, near Stockton, was yesterday jailed for nine months after he admitted false accounting and theft.

Teesside Crown Court heard that Carroll had worked in the Middlesbrough branch of betting firm Totesport, in Grange Road, from 2001.

In December 2005, he was appointed manager and, as a condition of his contract, he was banned from betting "in-house", said Jolyon Perks, prosecuting.

But in January this year, a company auditor looked at the shop's accounts and discovered irregularities, including 17 false winning payments.

A code entered on the shop computers purporting to show where the fictitious winners had bought their tickets did not relate to any other branch.

John Constable, mitigating, said Carroll immediately confessed what he had done to his bosses, and was frank with police when he was arrested.

Since his arrest, Carroll has also completed a course with the North-East Council for Addictions to help him overcome his betting problem.

Mr Constable said: "The shock to him when he realised the extent of his gambling when he was caught and presented with the facts was considerable.

"He had not realised it had escalated that far until he saw the figures, and when that happened he had to confront his partner, which was a matter of great shame."

Carroll, of Heslop Street, admitted false accounting between June last year and January this year, as well as the thefts of £200 and £400 on November 13, of £550 and £400 on December 11, both last year, and £500 on January 1, this year.

Judge Michael Cartlidge told him: "The serious part of it was that you were the manager of the shop and your employers were relying on you and trusted you."