An employee stole scratchcards, cigarettes, alcohol and cash while working at a Galashiels fuel station.
According to the Border Telegraph, Peter Dawe helped himself to the goods when he was employed at the Adam Purves Service Station on Wilderhaugh.
He pleaded guilty at Selkirk Sheriff Court to the thefts, which took place over a three-day period between April 9 and April 11.
Prosecutor Emma Laing said suspicion fell on Dawe when there were discrepancies in the cash takings. She said a supervisor watched on CCTV on the afternoon of April 10 as Dawe took a can of cider from the display without paying and poured it into a coffee cup and drank it while serving at the counter.
The Border Telegraph reported that it was estimated the amount taken over the 60-week period Dawe was employed could have been in the region of £4,500.
Defence lawyer Ed Hulme said Dawe had been struggling with cocaine and alcohol addiction. He saidDawe had been due £1,500 in wages but that was withheld when the thefts came to light.
Sheriff Peter Paterson sentenced him to 70 hours unpaid work as an alternative to custody.
