A GARAGE manager who went on the run with nearly £5,000 takings has been jailed for four months.

Judge Marten Coates gave 40-year-old Angus Whiting an earlier chance to stay out of prison by repaying the money to the privately-owned Powick service station near Worcester.

But the judge was told the defendant had not repaid the cash and was still waiting to sell his car.

Whiting, who was found living in Salford, Lancashire, admitted theft.

He began work at the garage in February last year but found it stressful travelling daily from his home in Walsall, said Tariq Shakoor, prosecuting.

The owner went to the garage on April 6 and found incomplete paperwork and £4,985 missing from the safe.

Whiting, who had no police record, had "done a bunk " and was not arrested for nine months, said Mr Shakoor.

He had no explanation for the theft and insisted he was not desperate for cash.

Stephen Bailey, defending, confirmed that Whiting had been told at an earlier hearing that he could avoid jail by paying back the cash.

But he was still trying to sell his £500 car and had been laid off from work as a barman.

He was now living at his mother's Walsall address and recognised he had brought shame on his family.

Judge Coates said despite his offer of a deal not a penny had been repaid.

"This was a quite deliberate taking when you were in a position of trust. It is very sad to see you before a court," he added.