A PETROL station worker who stole £76,000 in takings to pay off a huge gambling debt has been jailed.
Nandish Ruparelia plundered the tills at the Shell garage in Barlow Lane, Kirkdale he was working at just weeks after starting.
He had responsibility for cashing up, but the 36-year-old did a runner with the cash from four days of sales – totalling £76,484.
Liverpool Crown Court heard Ruparelia, who had a previous conviction for stealing, then fled to Spain.
But he came back to face the music after running out of cash.
Judge David Hale yesterday jailed him for 16 months after he admitted one count of theft between March 27 and April 2, 2007.
Ruparelia, of no fixed address, claimed he had lost £63,000 in a poker game.
