A FORMER University of York finance manager who stole from his employers for nearly four years has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Adam Gyrth Regis by-passed normal security protocols as he used a university credit card on personal items including purchases via Amazon Prime and PayPal, gift vouchers and train tickets, said Rob Galley, prosecuting.

He spent at least £10,000 before his actions were discovered when other staff were unable to reconcile accounts with purchase records. Five other staff were interviewed over the matter.

For Regis, Andrea Parnham said his family were heavily in debt and struggling despite him having two jobs, his full-time university job and a part-time evening job. His mental health was also affected.

“He was in a place where he was making decisions he perhaps would not make when he was more mentally stable,” she said.

“He was in a relatively stable job, a professional job and now finds himself working in a factory on the minimum wage.”

Regis was sacked from his position at the Stockholm Environment Institute at the university in November 2017 and had been on sick leave for some weeks before then.

The 51-year-old, of Aberdeen Terrace, Scarborough, pleaded guilty to theft.

He was given a 16-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months on condition he does 20 days’ rehabilitative activities at York Crown Court.

Judge Simon Hickey said: “It was on any view a sustained period of stealing over three years and eight months.”

Regis will face an assets confiscation hearing later this year.

Mr Galley said Regis was given a credit card intended only to be used for university purchases by a more senior member of staff.

The exact amount he stole was difficult to calculate but Regis accepted it was more than £10,000.

Miss Parnham said he had not blamed other staff for the thefts.