A FORMER teacher who admitted stealing £8,000 from a local history group to fund his alcohol addiction has been jailed for 15 months, suspended for two years.

Daniel Moorhouse, 40, was treasurer of the Keighley & District Local History Society when he took money given to the group from the Heritage Lottery Fund last year.

The grant was earmarked to investigate the history of the old police station in North Street, Keighley, but Moorhouse transferred the money to his personal account and made a series of withdrawals from a cash machine in The Turkey Inn, Laycock.

He had pleaded guilty to five charges of theft and one charge of forging a cheque at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates' Court in March.

Passing sentence at Bradford Crown Court today Judge Jonathan Rose described Moorhouse's actions as a "determined breach of trust," and ordered him to repay the money in full on or before January 15 next year, or face being recalled to court under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Moorhouse, of Low Laithe Fold, Laycock, Keighley, was also ordered to perform 180 hours of unpaid work, given a four-month curfew with an electronic tag, and told to pay a £120 victim surcharge.