A FORMER Manager of the Year who defrauded his employers out of takings of up to £7,000 has been jailed at Worcester Crown Court.

Basharat Bashir hatched a scam to ensure that money did not go through the till at Domino's Pizza in Redditch.

He also enlisted the help of two other employees, Shafiq Mohammed and Shabir Mohammed, to carry out the crime. The trio pleaded guilty to conspiring to falsify accounts between January and March this year.

Jailing 25-year-old Bashir, of Durham Road, Sparkhill, Birmingham, for six months, Judge Stephen Waine told him he had abused his position of trust and had exploited the food outlet's system out of a belief that he was entitled to higher wages.

Shafiq Mohammed, aged 20, of Shaftmoor Lane, Hall Green, Birmingham, and Shabir Moha-mmed, also 20, of Johnston Close, Sparkhill, Birmingham, were each ordered to carry out 60 hours of unpaid community work.

Prosecutor Michael Conry said money from over-the-counter sales was disguised and not put through the shop till. Bashir altered records to cover his tracks. He also ordered his co-defendants to keep quiet and pointed the finger at another employee to divert suspicion from himself.

As a former Manager of the Year in the pizza chain, he thought he was entitled to higher pay. Mr Conry said the shop lost between £5,000 and £7,000 before checks on takings revealed the scam.

David Munro, for Bashir, said: "He bitterly regrets involving others which I accept is an aggravating feature of the case."

Barristers for the other defendants pointed out they had played a subsidiary role.