A TEENAGER funded a lavish lifestyle after stealing thousands of pounds while working as a supermarket cashier.

Ashley Skinner pocketed £27,310 over 14 months while working at the Co-op shop in Banbury Road, Kidlington.

The 19-year-old spent the money – the equivalent of two years wages for a worker at the shop – on gadgets for his bedroom, presents for his family, clothes and rounds of drinks for friends, Oxford Crown Court heard yesterday.

The court was told that because of Skinner’s thefts, the store was unable to carry out a Co-op policy of offering a share of its profits to local good causes.

Skinner, of Wise Avenue, Kidlington, was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

He will also now face a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing at which the Midcounties Co-op will seek to recover the stolen money.

Clare Tucker, prosecuting, said Skinner would alter hundreds of till transactions, showing them as void, to steal the cash between January last year and March this year.

She said: “Once he started and didn’t get caught, he carried on and became greedy.

“It was not because he needed the money, but he enjoyed the lifestyle this theft provided him with.”

Managers became suspicious about Skinner’s large number of void transactions and security staff observed him working at a till on March 10.

When checks were carried out, they discovered the till was short of £100 and when Skinner was confronted, the missing cash was found in his pockets.

A Co-op spokesman said last night: “The loss of £27,000 has had a massive effect.

“This equates to two full-time members of shop floor staff and in the current economic climate it’s difficult for all businesses to make a profit.”

Mrs Tucker told the court that the Midcounties Co-operative was a non-profit organisation and any surplus the business generated was used to fund good causes in the area.

She said: “The store is not able to carry out community projects they would like to have done.”

Lucy Tapper, defending, said Skinner had had a troubled childhood and was too vulnerable to be jailed.

She said: “He was seeking a lifestyle he felt he needed to become a better person.

“He now recognises this is not a lifestyle he should have craved.”

Skinner and his family, who filled the public gallery, sobbed as the Recorder, Andrew McCooey, sentenced him.

Mr McCooey said Skinner was an exceptional case, because his mother was ill with cancer and he had not been in trouble before.

He said: “The damage is great and is solely caused by your greed.

“I’m not going to make an order, because there may be further proceeds of crime proceedings, but you must pay the Co-op money back.

“That’s your priority. Do not spend money on yourself, because you have injured financially a number of people.”

Skinner has been ordered to appear at the court for a Proceeds of Crimes Hearing on Friday, October 16.