A taxi driver abused his employer's trust by stealing more than £17,000.
Chayne Simmons, 35, who was a long-term worker for Albies Taxis in Suffling Road, Great Yarmouth, exploited a loophole in the chip and pin system to steal the cash from his employer, Norwich Crown Court heard.
Russell Butcher, prosecuting, said Simmons had worked for the company on and off for 10 years both as a driver and also did shifts as a dispatcher.
He said that Simmons used various methods to steal the cash over an eight month period including using a loophole he had identified in the chip and pin system to take fraudulent cashbacks.
Mr Butcher said: "There is an element of planning and ingenuity."
He said that Simmons had breached the trust of his employer by targeting a vulnerability in the system.
When challenged, Simmons at first denied the thefts but when shown the records later admitted what he had done and said he wanted to pay the cash back.
Simmons of Elm Grove, Gorleston, admitted fraud between April 22 to December 18, last year.
Jailing him for 12 months, Judge Katharine Moore said he had abused the trust of his employer.
She accepted the fraud was not sophisticated but said: "You displayed an amount of ingenuity."
Andrew Oliver, for Simmons, said that he was under a great deal of stress at the time.
He said that he was suffering over the death of his brother and was trying to look after his mother.
"He went to pieces."
He said in hindsight he now realises he should have given himself an opportunity to grieve.
He said that Simmons had now got help from his GP and had been treated for depression.
"He knows and he has accepted that stealing from his employer in this way was wrong.".
Mr Oliver said: "He should have sought help."
He said it was not a sophisticated fraud and the blame was never laid on anyone else.
He said that it only went on for an eight month period and he had shown remorse.
He said that Simmons wanted to repay the cash: "He does not have any assets but he wants to pay at a monthly rate."
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