South London golf club assistant manager stole £15k to fund gambling addiction

Danny Hollingsworth worked at the Shirley Park Golf Club for three years but on June 6 he walked into Croydon Police Station and told the front desk officer he “had a confession to make”. 

The 33-year-old explained that he had been stealing from the golf club for months to fund his gambling problem. 

At Croydon Crown Court on Monday (October 14) prosecutor Martin Ingle said Hollingsworth was responsible for counting takings, placing the money in a safe and recording the amount on a spreadsheet. 

Between February and June he repeatedly took money and then marked the spreadsheet incorrectly to cover his tracks.

Hollingsworth, of Lower Addiscombe Road, pleaded guilty to theft by an employee. 

Narjis Butt, defending, said her client had suffered from a mild gambling addiction since he was 18 but recently it had become much more serious. 

After he gambled away his legitimate wages he stole money with the intention to pay back, the court heard. 

He later took out a bank loan and a loan from his mum but these were also lost to gambling. 

“His intention the whole time was to return the money but everything got out of control,” Ms Butt said. 

On May 31 his employer questioned why he had failed to put some cash in the safe and he had no explanation, then a week later he handed himself in to police. 

Recorder Michael Hillman, sentencing Hollingsworth, said: “This addiction, in my mind, is a form of mental illness which you were unable to deal with at the time.” 

After hearing that the defendant had sought treatment for his addiction and was extremely remorseful, Recorder Hillman concluded that custodial sentence would not be necessary. 

He sentenced Hollingsworth to community order including a requirement that he pay back the full figure of £15,748 at a rate of £500 a month.