A BOOKMAKER who tried to dupe his employer out of hundreds of pounds by making false bets for his friend avoided jail.

Vishal Chohan worked at the Coral betting shop in Reading in May 2015 when his friend Haroon Habib attempted to place bets on dog races.

Habib, 26, tried to pay £500 for a 3/1 bet with his debit card, but when his card was rejected the dodgy bookie agreed to put the bet through without paying.

He then turned his losing bet into a winning one by tricking the system and shared £1,500 winnings with his accomplice.

The duo returned £500 of the money to make the bet appear legitimate and the offence went unnoticed for a whole year until the betting shop traced Habib through his failed card payment.

Edward Hollingsworth, prosecuting, said: "Chohan was formally dismissed following the investigation and was arrested in May last year.

"It is clear these men knew each other and these bets were made falsely due to Mr Chohan's position at the bookmakers."

Nina Tavakoli, mitigating, said Chohan had debts in excess of £60k as a result of a gambling addiction and he was forced to declare bankruptcy earlier this year.

The 28-year-old narrowly escaped prison after breaching a suspended sentence of two years for punching a man in a nightclub.

Tony Ventham, representing Habib, explained he was highly unlikely to reoffend and his misjudgement had caused great shame on his family.

Kate Brunner QC added: "This was a very opportunistic and one-off offence and there was certainly no planning involved.

"You were given an opportunity to show that you could turn your back on crime, but this offence occurred only five months after you were given a suspended sentence.

"This was a blatant abuse of trust and you are both jointly responsible for your part in this venture."

Chohan, of Stonefield Park, Maidenhead, and Habib of Carlisle Road, Slough, admitted to fraud by false representation and received a community order of 12 months, with 130 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity of six days, at Reading Crown Court on Monday, July 17.