A STORE was turned into a “Fagin’s den” by thieving employees and lax security checks, a court has heard.

For five years, some of the staff at the Canterbury branch of book and craft shop The Works stole more than £38,000 in cash, DVDs, CDs and books.

The pilfering only came to light when a customer complained she was given the wrong receipt for goods she had bought from the city centre shop.

Bosses installed secret CCTV cameras and caught four employees pocketing cash or stealing goods, Canterbury Crown Court was told.

Assistant manager Robert Johnson, 23, of Craddock Road, Canterbury, and ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Noel, a 25-year-old sales assistant, formerly of St Stephen’s Court, Canterbury, each received suspended jail sentences.

Two other former employees have already been sentenced by magistrates after admitting thefts at an earlier hearing.

The court heard that The Works estimated the overall loss at £38,500.

* Full story in this week's Kentish Gazette.