A STOCKBROKER who stole more than £370,000 from his firm to fund a gambling addiction was jailed for two-and-a-half years yesterday.

Graham Houghton, 33, embezzled cheques from Brewin Dolphin Security in Newcastle, an international stocks and shares company where he worked as a manager. Newcastle Crown Court heard how over a seven-year period Houghton got 129 cheques authorised by claiming to his bosses they were going to clients.

But Houghton, who had an addiction to on-line gambling, horse racing and casinos, had run up almost half a million pounds worth of debt and was using the stolen cash to cover it.

Houghton, of James Street, Sunderland, was caught after he was made redundant from the company in 2004 and a discrepancy with one cheque sparked a more thorough investigation.

He admitted 28 charges of obtaining money transfers by deception between 1997 and 2004 and asked for further similar charges to be taken into account