A HOTEL operations manager told police he stole from his employer to get back at the company owner who was a “horrible person to work for”.

Paul Lago fleeced Future Inns out of £2,000 after he took cash from bar and restaurant tills and covered his tracks by posting disputed transactions.

But Judge Nicola Jones said she “totally disregarded” the defendant’s “denigration of your employer”.

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She told the 66-year-old Lago, from Waunfawr, Cross Keys, at Cardiff Crown Court: “The lady or gentleman is not here to defend themselves.”

Nuhu Gobir, prosecuting, said the defendant had worked at Future Inns in Cardiff since 2004 where he began as food and beverages manager.

Lago was promoted to operations manager and a “senior member of staff”

Mr Gobir told the court that the defendant having his fingers in the till was brought to the attention of bosses following a tip-off by a member of staff.

The prosecutor said: “Mr Lago made full admissions in interview with the police.

“He told them the owner of the company was a horrible person to work for which is why he said he stole the money.”

Mr Gobir added: “This was a breach of a high degree of trust by the defendant. Nobody else suffered a loss apart from the hotel.”

Lago admitted theft against an employer totalling £2,060 between August 2017 and February 2018.

Mr Gobir said the defendant had one previous conviction for an almost identical offence in 1991.

Ruth Smith, mitigating, said: “At the time of the offence, Mr Lago was in a poor state mentally and he has suffered severely with depression.”

His barrister said the defendant had found the body of a woman who was murdered at the hotel on New Year’s Eve 2014.

Miss Smith said: “He saw the body and it is something which has had an impact on him.”

It was heard that Lago also claimed that a senior member of staff was bullying lower members of staff.

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But Miss Smith added: “He has no excuses for taking the money and he bears the responsibility for it.”

Judge Jones heard how Lago has now been declared bankrupt and his assets are in the hands of the Official Receiver.

Miss Smith said that Future Inns were pursuing a High Court claim against her client.

She added: “The defendant has lost his matrimonial home. A four-bedroom property his wife and son were living in.

“He has suffered a considerable loss as a result of his actions.”

The court heard how Lago now works as a volunteer at a foodbank and carries out charity work at his church.

Judge Jones told the defendant: “This was a sophisticated theft that took place over a considerable amount of time.

“It has been the ruination of you and your family.”

She jailed Lago for 14 months, suspended for 14 months.

He must also carry out 250 hours of work in the community, pay £340 prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of £140.