A FORMER RAF worker has been ordered to repay money he stole from a club started by First World War veterans.

Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday how David Segger was working as a steward at Richmond Comrades Club, in North Yorkshire, when he took more than £7,000.

The theft came to light after concerned bar staff alerted club officials in November 2009.

Colleagues acted when the 49- year-old got drunk in the bar with the club’s takings in his pocket.

Segger, now of Hawthorn Street, Peterlee, County Durham, but formerly of Richmond and Darlington, was suspended after the incident.

Officials later found that cheques had been made out to the defendant from the club’s account and police were called.

The court heard how Segger had tried to repay some of the money, but the cheque from his account had bounced.

At the time of the thefts, in October and November 2009, the club had no treasurer and Segger was responsible for the banking.

Louise Reevell, prosecuting, said he told police he had used his personal bank account for club business.

She said: “He admitted that he used this money as his own and stole some of it.”

Annelise Haugstad, in mitigation, said her client had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, and said: “It was not a deliberate course of offending that he started out on.”

Judge Peter Armstrong sentenced Segger to six months in prison, suspended for two years, after he admitted three charges of theft.

He ordered the defendant to repay the club £1,500 at a rate of £40 a month.

Segger, who served with the RAF before taking the job at the club, was given a 12-month supervision order.

The club, in Newbiggin, Richmond, was founded in 1926 by First World War veterans.