An employee who stole from a Cardigan business has been ordered to carry out 150 hours unpaid work.

Kenneth Warren Tarling, aged 24, of Fronllan, Cwm Bach, Whitland, appeared before Aberystwyth magistrates on Wednesday.

He had previously denied stealing tools and accessories from Elite Carpentry and Elite Racing, but changed his plea to guilty on the morning that the case was due to go to trial earlier this month.

The court heard that Tarling took items amounting to around £1,200, including motorcross equipment, a circular saw, drills, a nail gun and batteries, from the company between March 1 and July 31.

Nick Newton, prosecuting, said Tarling started working for Matthew Scott as a trainee at the Cardigan business in February, and items began to go missing.

Mr Scott was moving a table into his workshop when he saw some of his tools in Tarling’s van.

Mr Newton said: “He said he only borrowed them and was going to return them. More items went missing and the police were called.”

Police found the missing tools during a search of Tarling’s home and garage, amounting to £1,200.

In interview, Tarling claimed he had worked over time amounting to £1,000, but had not been paid, and told his employer he was seizing the items.

Mr Newton said: “Mr Scott said Mr Tarling had never worked overtime. There had been no need to work overtime, and he produced sheets showing the hours worked.”

He added that Mr Scott had lost contracts and suffered financial loss as he had to buy new tools to full-full work commitments.

Peter Martin, defending, said: “It was an extremely ill-thought out solution to what he saw was a problem.”

The presiding magistrate said: “This is a very serious offence indeed. It’s a breach of trust stealing from an employer.”

Tarling was ordered to carry out 150 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £400 court costs.