Man sentenced for theft of £11,000 from Camber leisure park

A man who stole more than £11,000 cash from a Camber leisure centre where he worked has been convicted of burglary and ordered to pay the money back.

Ben Cottam, 32, of Denham Way, Camber, was given a 16-month prison sentence suspended for two years, when he appeared at Lewes Crown Court on Wednesday 6 January, having admitted burglary at Camber Sands Leisure Park on the morning of 19 December 2019, in which he stole £11,165 cash from the office safe.

He was also given a court Compensation Order requiring him to repay the total amount to his former employers at an agreed rate of £300 per month.

Cottam was also order to carry out 200 Hours Community Service, 15 Days Rehabilitation Activity, and to pay £450 court costs.

PC Ciaran Gaymer said; "Cottam had just been suspended from his work at the leisure centre where he was arcade manager, over the disappearance of a sum of money from accounts and had his work keys taken from him. He then got a fellow employee, who was unaware of this, to lend him a set of site keys and used these to enter the office and remove the cash from the safe.

"However our enquiries, including access to office CCTV, clearly showed Cottam was the thief although he did not admit it, right up until his first court appearance last November when he suddenly pleaded guilty."