The former assistant manager of a clothing retailer has been jailed after issuing himself refunds.

Felix Ogunleye, 37, of Ballards Road, Dagenham, was sentenced to eight weeks imprisonment after pleading guilty to 10 counts of theft by employee at Primark in High Road, Ilford.

Ogunleye was also ordered to pay £508.20 in compensation and an £80 victim surcharge as he was sentenced at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

The thefts, which occurred between Christmas eve last year and January, amounted to more than £500.

Ogunleye, who was caught on CCTV, was arrested on suspicion of theft by employee at his home on Friday March 20 and denied the allegations when he was interviewed by police.

He was charged later the same day.

Ogunleye had already resigned in January after being interviewed by management as part of an internal investigation.

Store bosses became suspicious when a high number of refund transactions were registered under his unique employee number after closing hours.

Ogunleye obtained electronic copies of sales receipts, logged on to a customer service till using his unique employee number and on two other occasions used another employee’s log and issued a return of various items before pocketing the money on 10 occasions.

CCTV footage showed that although there were members of the public standing near the till on several occasions, no one else was given a refund and no cash was tendered.

Pc Sam Burrows said: “Ogunleye was employed as an assistant manager which placed him in a position of trust.

“He abused this position on a number of occasions with no regard for company policy or the repercussions. He pocketed over £500 as a result of his dishonesty and may have been doing so for some time.”