A 33-year-old man from Ballintoy has been jailed for defrauding his employers at Toals Bookmakers of £137,214.

Denver Kelly, of Main Street, Ballintoy, was sentenced at Antrim Crown Court to a term of two years, with one year in custody and one year on licence, after pleading guilty to fraud by abuse of position.

Judge Sandra Crawford said Kelly had breached the trust placed in him as manager and assessed his culpability as high.

The court heard that between 15 June and 16 September 2023, Kelly manipulated the company's computer systems to retrospectively place bets on races that had already been run, guaranteeing wins.

Kelly, who had worked for Toals since his teenage years and rose to manager, discovered the timestamp manipulation glitch and used it to lay 136 bets over three months.

He placed around £25,000 in bets, some of which were losers, and fraudulently obtained £137,214, which he spent gambling at other outlets.

When interviewed by police, Kelly made immediate admissions. Defence counsel Nadine Knight said he expressed deep shame and remorse, but had no capacity to make restitution since he had not worked since the offending came to light.

Judge Crawford said the custody threshold was clearly met given the nature of the offending, aggravating features, and the amount involved.