A lottery winner who scooped £100,000 has fallen from glory after being caught stealing trainers.
David Swatman, 43, won the prize on a scratch card back in 2018, and vowed to use the cash to follow his beloved Liverpool FC.
He said at the time: "I’ve followed Liverpool all my life but because of my job, I often have to work weekends and can’t see them play as often as I would like to.
"Thanks to this win, I can treat not only myself but my friends as well. Who knows, I could even get tickets to the Champions League final in Kyiv if Liverpool make it there!"
Swatman said the money was "going to completely change his life" - but five years later, he has pleaded guilty to stealing £15,000 worth of shoes while working as a delivery driver for FootAsylum.
He avoided an immediate prison sentence yesterday after admitting a single charge of theft worth £15,450 from between August and September 2020.
His pilfering came to light when the company discovered a discrepancy in the number of boxes leaving the depot and those arriving in Manchester.
The court heard Swatman had memorised an 'encryption lock' on the vehicles to carry out his crimes.
It is not the first time he has been hauled before the courts either.
The court was told Swatman had 22 sets of previous convictions covering 44 offences, including a drink drive offence, said to have been committed shortly after the FootAsylum thefts.
Max Saffman, defending, said his client was now working part-time as a window fitter, earning about £300 per week, although he hoped to be working full time soon. He pointed to his client's admission of guilt from the moment he was arrested.
His Honour Judge Field KC expressed astonishment that it had taken more than two years to bring the case to court when the defendant had admitted his crime at the outset.
He said the delay had been "extraordinary" and meant the defendant had been living with the threat of jail throughout his wait to be sentenced.
Judge Field said: "It wasn't just one theft. It was a series of thefts that occurred as long ago as the late summer of 2020 when you were working as a delivery driver for FootAsylum.
"You used your privileged position to steal goods from your delivery vehicle for the benefit of others... It was a breach of the trust placed in you by your employers."
The judge said there had been a "degree of sophistication" although the defendant had not acted alone. The goods had "plainly been stolen to order".
But Judge Field said the defendant had shown "genuine remorse" and had made "frank admissions as soon as you were confronted".
He said Swatman had "taken steps to address the problems that may have led you to make the very bad decision to steal from your employer".
The judge went on: "I have formed the strong view by what you have achieved over the last two-and-a-half years that there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation in your case."
Swatman was handed a 20-month jail sentence, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to carry out five days of rehabilitation activity, to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and pay £425 prosecution costs.
