A FORMER drug addict stole more than £4,000 from his employers after he was threatened by dealers over an old debt, a court was told.

Gareth Clothier volunteered to bank the weekend's takings from the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) takeaway in North Road, Darlington, where he had a job, but in an act of desperation pocketed the cash.

The court heard that Clothier, 20, claimed that a few days earlier he had been bundled into a van and had a gun pointed at him after an old cocaine debt caught up with him. He was later arrested by police, but said he had already handed over the cash to the dealers and it was never recovered.

Cath Fagan, prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, said Clothier offered to deposit the £4,395 weekend takings from the KFC at the bank but failed to return.

Staff became suspicious and contacted the bank, which confirmed no money had been deposited and the police were alerted.

Clothier, who admitted theft on September 20 last year, was said to have moved away from his home in Newton Aycliffe and started a new life in Darlington in a effort to lay low from his old dealers.

Chris Morrison, for Clothier, said he had managed to avoid his drug debt for one and-a-half years, until he encountered two men who threatened him and told him to pay.

Mr Morrison said the decision to steal the takeaway cash was on the spur of the moment and described the theft as desperate and amateurish.

He said: "He now stands at a crossroads and wishes to make a right turn."

Mr Morrison suggested Clothier, who had now been offered a job as a roofer, could "bend his back" and pay the cash back if he was given a community punishment order. But his plea was rejected by Recorder Felicity Davies who said he had broken the trust of his former employers and must face a custodial sentence.

She said Clothier, formerly of Arthur Street, Darlington but now of Mackenzie Place, Newton Aycliffe, would serve eight months in a young offenders institution.