A gambling addict and housing account manager who conned his customers and company out of almost £40,000 will have to pay back the money he stole, a court has ruled.

Jeffrey Hasnan, 35, escaped a jail term and received a two year suspended prison sentence along with 200 hours of community service after admitting to unlawfully taking more than £34,000 from letting agents Gateway Estates.

He was also convicted at Kingston Crown Court on Friday, July 31 of billing a customer £850 for scaffolding that was never constructed and dishonestly charging £3,990 for a window replacement in Trevelyan Lodge in Galsworthy Road in Kingston last year.

Karen Walker, a director of Gateway Estates, said she was forced to close the company and lost all of her savings after Hasnan’s fraud came to light.

The court heard that Hasnan, who lived in Kingston Hill, had developed a gambling addiction after his grandmother took him to the races as a teenager. As it began to spiral out of control, he started taking more and more money from the company.

Defence counsel Chris Sallon said: "[Hasnan] became overwhelmed by guilt. He could not sleep and contemplated suicide. That is when he came clean.

"He has stopped gambling for a year and that has taken enormous exertion on his part."

Judge Silas Reid commended Hasnan for the steps he had taken to stop gambling but described the damage to his victims as "devastating".

He said: "The effects on Mrs Walker and her business have been devastating and she has had to close her company down.

"You have the great advantage in this case that after you revealed your criminality you took steps to address your addiction.

"It seems to me you have genuine remorse for your behaviour."

Hasnan has six months to pay the £33,586.11 confiscation order and £4,240 compensation order.