A THIEVING Morrisons car park attendant caught with more than 80 £1 coins stashed in his shoes has been jailed today for six months.

Peter Hurson emptied the parking machines at the supermarket in Keighley into his own pocket, changing the coins into vouchers at nearby Asda, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Hurson, 48, of North Street, Keighley, was charged with stealing £6,194 from Morrisons, between January 30 and May 27 last year, and laundering more than £6,000 of it through the Coinstar machine.

This morning, his barrister, Oliver Jarvis, said Hurson would plead guilty to theft on the basis that he stole £1,473 over a month long period.

Prosecutor, Richard Walters, said although the Crown did not accept that basis, both sums of money put the case into the same sentencing guideline bracket.

The court heard that Hurson was sentenced to 300 hours of unpaid work at Bradford Magistrates Court in 2009 for attempting to steal two Royal Mail parcels when he was working as a postman.

Mr Walters said Hurson had been working as a car park attendant at Morrisons for three and a half years when he was caught stealing.

Supermarket staff became suspicious when they saw him regularly changing considerable amounts of money for vouchers at Asda, located in Bradford Road.

On May 27, Morrisons despatched a loss prevention officer to the store to investigate the situation.

She saw Hurson empty coins from a parking machine into a carrier bag.

He said he was taking the cash to Customer Services but staff there said he had never left any money with them.

Hurson had 82 £1 coins in his shoes when he was apprehended, Mr Walters told the court.

Mr Jarvis said Hurson at first admitted stealing the money but then panicked and denied it at the magistrates court.

He had now "come to his senses" and was embarrassed and remorseful.

He lost his job with Morrisons and was now working as a contract cleaner and living in rented accommodation, Mr Jarvis said.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC said: "A message has to be clearly understood that those in a position of authority, especially with previous convictions, who steal from their employer will go to prison."

Hurson had rifled parking machines into which law abiding citizens had put their hard-earned money.

"It was deliberate, thoughtful, purposeful stealing from the machines," Judge Durham Hall said.

"This was a blatant offence, in breach of your job, in breach of trust."

Hurson had carried on stealing until he was caught.

The judge set a Proceeds of Crime Act timetable to claw back the money from Hurson.

The confiscation proceedings will take place at the crown court at a later date.