A SHOP worker who stole more than £30,000 to pay off gambling debts walked free from court yesterday after a judge ruled she was "basically a good person".

Ann Dickinson, 39, was supported in her bid to avoid jail by a number of impressive testimonials and letters from friends, family and former work colleagues.

She left court in tears of relief after Judge Les Spittle imposed a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, with conditions of supervision and unpaid work.

Judge Spittle told Dickinson: "You were in a position of trust and responsibility, but you are not a danger to the public and will not cause harm.

"You are taking steps to deal with your problem, and I think you should be supported in that. The community thinks so too, judging by the letters I have got."

Teesside Crown Court heard that Dickinson had worked for One Stop Stores, in Norfolk Place, Middlesbrough, for six years before her thieving spree started.

She was given responsibility last summer for banking takings at the Post Office, but irregularities in the company's takings emerged in February this year.

Andrea Pitt, prosecuting, told the court that Dickinson had asked counter assistants to stamp counterfoils in receipt books, even though she was not paying anything in.

Some staff at the Post Office lost their jobs as a result of Dickinson's con, but the court heard that they did what she asked on the understanding she would return later with the money.

After her arrest, Dickinson handed police a letter in which she admitted taking the money rather than banking it, and exonerating the counter staff of any blame.

Duncan McReddie, mitigating, told Judge Spittle: "You have before you a woman who has never troubled the courts, who has been an asset to her local community.

"She started gambling at a low level and became trapped. It escalated, she borrowed money, and it became a vicious circle from which she could see no escape. It was a downward spiral of addiction - debt to fund that addiction and, ultimately, theft to fund the debt and the addiction. She has been attending Gamblers' Anonymous since her admissions."

Dickinson, of Aldridge Road, Middlesbrough, who admitted the theft of £30,320 over a three-month period, was put on probation supervision for a year and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.