THE manager of Ramsbottom Civic Hall has been sentenced to a 120-hour Community Punishment Order after taking money from its account.

David Hudson (45) of Bridges Avenue, Bury, appeared before Bury Magistrates Court on Friday for sentencing, after earlier pleading guilty to the theft of £284.25 from Civic Hall funds, and four charges of false accounting. He also asked for a further six to be taken into consideration.

The court heard how Hudson had been arrested after taking £284.25 from Ramsbottom Civic Hall in April last year, while trying to cover up an alleged theft at the centre.

The centre, run by Bury Council, was audited in April 2005, and a shortfall was found in the accounts. An internal inquiry was launched and Hudson was interviewed by his employers, before the incident was reported to the police.

Hudson alleged that the money had been stolen while he had been showing a group around the hall in Market Place at the end of 2004. He said that after taking £3,400 from the safe to deposit into the bank, a group of young men had arrived and Hudson had left the money in the office while he took them on a tour. Mrs Anna Morris, prosecuting, said: "After he had shown the group round, they left, and he found that the office door was open and the money had gone. He knew that he had breached the terms of employment by leaving the money out of the safe so attempted to repay the money back himself."

But the Garden Society, who had also been using the centre at the same time, could not confirm if they had seen the group being shown round or not.

Hudson had altered the banking records to cover up the theft, and in January 2005 paid £1,494 into the account in a bid to cover it up. But with his family in £45,000 of debt, he took the money back out of the account, along with a further £284.25. Mrs Morris added: "He had not been in the position to pay the money back. But he was not charged with the theft of the original sum of £3,400."

Mr Graham Whittingham, defending, said Hudson should have admitted the theft had taken place when it did instead of trying to pay the money back. He said: "He got himself into this mess by taking money out of the accounts and then putting it back in a bid to conceal the theft."

Magistrates ordered him to pay £284.25 compensation and £45 costs in addition to the community order. Hudson has since been dismissed from his post at the civic hall.