A RECRUITMENT consultant who plundered a jobseeker's bank account by £690 to fill his own fridge in a 'wicked breach of trust' has been spared a jail term.

Helder Moreira, 36, used the details given to him by a man looking for work to get hundreds of pounds worth of meat from a local butcher's shop.

But after hearing that Moreira had been suspended from his job and lost his relationship as a result of the offending a judge imposed a suspended sentence.

Nick Barr, prosecuting, told Swindon Magistrates' Court that Moreira's offending was 'in essence a breach of trust'.

He said earlier this year victim Rossel Vaz had applied for a job as a cleaner at a Tesco supermarket.

That sort of staff recruitment is subcontracted to another company where Moreira worked, he said, and the defendant contacted the victim.

He asked for bank statements and his passport which he photocopied at his home address telling him he needed them to arrange his wages.

But by March 21, when the victim hadn't been paid, he spoke to Moreira again to get it sorted out and was asked to go to his house.

While he was there he noticed the photocopies of his documents sitting on the desk and when he asked why they hadn't been sent off he was told they had been scanned.

He was then told to hand over his bank card so he could arrange his outstanding wages, which he did.

But when he got his statement through he found a payment of £360 leaving his account on Friday, March 21, and another £330 the following day.

When he challenged the transactions with the bank they found the money had been spent at a butcher's shop in Royal Wootton Bassett.

It was discovered the purchases had been conducted over the phone by the defendant using Mr Vaz's bank details and he then went in to collect the meat.

Mr Barr said the recruitment consultant was arrested but when he was questioned he lied about what had happened.

"It is fair to say that the defendant is not particularly honest in interview, in fact he denies it is him," he said.

Moreira, of Whittingham Drive, Alexandra Park, Wroughton, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud.

Richard Williams, defending, said his client had never been in trouble before and was very sorry for what he had done.

He said: "He has been suspended from work for these matters. He has split up from his girlfriend because of this.

"He has expressed profound shame to me this morning which he asks me to pass on to the court."

District Judge Simon Cooper said: "You have pleaded guilty to taking the details of an employee and using them meanly to take money from his accounts for your own purposes: some £690.

"It is a wicked breach of trust. It seems to me a custodial sentence is inevitable but it can be suspended given your good character and remorse."

He imposed a 24-week jail term suspended for two years and told him to do 200 hours of unpaid work for the community and pay £85 costs and £80 victim surcharge.