The former company secretary of Derby-based printer Tranters has received a one-year suspended jail sentence and a community rehabilitation order after pleading guilty to stealing more than 25,000 by altering bank documents.

Adam Robinson pleaded guilty to 23 separate counts of theft when he appeared at Derby Crown Court on 21 November. The firm discovered the fraud when it changed banks.

The court heard that Robinson overpaid himself on more than 100 occasions. Tranters had to make two staff redundant in 1999 in a bid to reduce costs, which was later found to be due to the on-going fraud resulting in excessive wage costs.

"We had no reason to suspect Robinson, but we all expected him to get a jail sentence," said owner and director Michael Tranter.