THE deputy manager of a bookmakers stole nearly £2,000 from the company, a court heard.

Benjamin Wager, 22, altered betting slips after races and pocketed the cash, it is alleged.

Wager worked at Coral in Mansfield Road, Nottingham, for 18 months before the alleged thefts during June and July, 2007.

Nottingham Crown Court heard he created ambiguous and illegible betting slips for greyhound racing. These were then changed to match a race result.

Jonathan Straw, prosecuting, said: "This dishonest practice could have gone on unnoticed for a considerable time provided the defendant was not too greedy in terms of the overall amount he stole."

The court heard bets were laid by filling in blue slips, which were then entered on to the electronic point of sale (EPOS) system by staff. The slip is scanned and a photostat copy produced.

The system cannot interpret the information on the slip, such as the race venue, time, dog backed and stake value. This is done by staff and is known as 'translation'.

It does not matter if this happens before the race starts or after it has finished.

Mr Straw said: "The electronic system is obviously vulnerable to unscrupulous punters who fill out illegible scripts they later seek to interpret so as to fit a particular race result.

"This problem is avoided by staff being trained to clarify with customers any ambiguity on a slip before the bet is 'struck'.

"In this case the defendant was the deputy manager of a small and relatively quiet branch where he would frequently be on the counter alone.

"He would in 'translating' the bet make it fit the known result, thereby creating a winning slip and generating a till surplus that he could pocket when opportunity provided."

Wager, of Mayo Road, Sherwood, denies eight counts of theft.

Mr Straw said: "The reason that he came to the attention of the investigation department was that on two occasions, during the four-week period, he sought to change the detail of a betting slip after he had translated it, thus turning a losing bet into a winning one.

"This practice, unbeknown to the defendant, automatically alerted head office."

Gordon Grant, from the security department at Coral, said Wager worked as deputy manager at the Mansfield Road and Alfreton Road branches to cover for absent staff.

He said each member of staff has a login code for the company's system and that in 2007 this number would change every four weeks.

He said: "This identifies to the system exactly who is operating that till and bet."

Proceeding