A PUB manager has admitted stealing more than £19,000 from his bar.

Timothy Knight, 39, stole the money and then falsified the records at Baroque, in Sunderland, in a bid to cover his tracks.

At Newcastle Crown Court yesterday, he pleaded guilty to stealing £19,200 between December 1, 2003, and December 10 last year.

He told the court that while he admitted taking the money illegally, he used it to subsidise the business.

At an earlier hearing, Knight admitted four charges of false accounting in relation to the falsifying of documents in March, June, July and August last year.

Knight, of Bede Street, Roker, Sunderland, who has no previous convictions, will be sentenced on October 28.

Judge Tim Hewitt said: "I warn you, in view of the substantial amount involved, custody will have to be in the mind of the judge who sentences you."