A Pembroke man has been given a 12-month community order after pleading guilty to stealing over £3,000 in coinage and cash notes from his work place.

Twenty-nine-year-old Stuart Daniel Batley, of Devon Drive, pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary from Bush Hill Service Station in Pembroke, on October 13, when he appeared before Haverfordwest magistrates court on Tuesday.

Prosecutor Ellie Morgan told the court that a member of staff arriving at the premises at 6 am to open up on a Monday morning, discovered the door had already been opened and the alarm system deactivated.

CCTV footage identified the defendant, showing him arriving an hour earlier at the petrol station, before he disabled the cameras.

Police arrested the defendant later that day at his home and he admitted that he had stolen the money, before discarding it in a hedge near his home.

Some £1,935 of the £3,102.21 was recovered by police in three money bags and another £650 was found later; however, £517.21 still remained missing, the court was told.

Magistrates gave Mr. Batley a 12-month community order and ordered him to undertake 80 hours of unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay a victim charge of £60 and compensation of £517.21 to cover the missing money.