A TRAINEE off-licence manager who stole almost £7,000 from his employers to feed his gambling addiction has been jailed for five months.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Christopher Corris has a previous similar conviction, and a prison sentence was inevitable.

Judge Denis Clark said that Corris was "a victim to gambling" but added that he had had a warning shot across his bows when he was last convicted and "the courts cannot help people who won't help themselves."

Corris, 33, of Virginia Avenue, New Brighton, had pleaded guilty to seven theft offences and had 38 similar offences taken into consideration, totalling £6,874.

The court heard that Corris, who did not reveal his previous conviction, became trainee manager at Bargain Booze in Rimmers Avenue, Huyton, last October, after initially working at its branch in New Brighton.

In January, because of his gambling debts, he started taking cash from the takings, averaging £250 per week. But by early summer his boss realised that the store was apparently not making a profit and began an investigation.

Corris, who received a community punishment order in November, 2002, for stealing about £2,000 from the garage where he worked, was arrested and admitted his guilt.

Stuart Mills, defending, said Corris, who has some personal difficulties, had pleaded guilty to the offences that resulted from his gambling habit.