A CAR salesman who ripped off two companies he worked for has been warned he faces immediate prison if he commits any further offences.

Jordan Dee fleeced almost £25,000 out of the businesses to fuel his cocaine habit.

The 30-year-old persuaded some customers to pay money directly into his bank account so that they could be offered a staff discount and on other occasions made dodgy refunds to himself.

Teesside Crown Court heard how Dee defrauded Teesside Audi out of £15,238.89 between November 2017 and May 18 before moving to Cooper BMW where he pocketed a further £8,548.08 between January 2019 and April 2019.

Ellen Wright, prosecuting, said Dee had used a number of different tactics to funnel the cash into his own account while working for Teesside Audi in Stockton.

“He was receiving payment for sales and work carried out for people. He also had permission to give out refunds,” she said.

“He had transferred some of the money directly into his won account. In one case, the defendant started texting a customer and said he considered him to be a friend and said he would be able to get him a staff discount if he paid the money into his bank account.”

In a business impact statement, the company's finance manager said: "I'm really shocked that he would act in this manner and because of the way he acted there is now a trust issue in the business.

"We placed our trust in him and he has deceived everyone."

Miss Wright said the defendant started working as a sales advisor at Cooper BMW based at Clifton Moor Gate, York, where his offending continued.

She said between January 19 and April 19 it was discovered that on at least eight occasions he had made refunds to customers and transferred the cash into his own bank account.

Miss Wright said the defendant had previous convictions for theft of £3,000 worth of iPhones while he was working as a delivery driver.

Dee, of Meadowfield Drive, Eaglescliffe, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position and fraud by false representation.

Lewis Kerr, in mitigation, said his client had been diagnosed with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) since his offending came to light and was responding positively to treatment.

Mr Kerr said Dee used some of the money to pay off debts connected to his drug addiction.

Judge Stephen Ashurst told Dee he was very fortunate not to be going straight to custody and praised him for his efforts when serving his previous suspended sentence for stealing goods while working as a delivery driver.

Dee was sentenced to 12 months suspended for two years and ordered to pay compensation to both garages.

He was also ordered to carry out 100 hours unpaid work.