An accountant, who was not playing with a full deck, has managed to avoid jail time after stealing more than £155,000 from his employers to fund a gambling addiction.

Between May 2011 and February 2012, Vimal Patel diverted funds from Southern Dental to his personal Natwest bank account that were then used to place bets through an affiliate of betting company Bet365.

In total, Patel took £155,012.20 and was ordered at Lewes Crown Court to pay back in-full the money he stole.

Being successful with a number of his bets, Patel has so far returned £57,696.31 but has left his former employers with losses still outstanding of £97,315.89.

Pleading guilty to four charges of fraud at a previous hearing, the court heard how Patel's addiction had led to debts and credits of £900,000 'going in and out of his account', but that the experience of being arrested in February last year was 'like having a gun pointed to his head' and has since stopped, attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings.

Michael Neofytou, defending, said: 'He was the first member of his family to go university. From the pride this gave him and his family, my client now feels shame and embarrassment and is full of remorse.

'In a way you could say it was a stupid thing to do because there was no false identification, he used his own bank account. All it would take was one dentist to question why they had not been paid and it would then only take a minute to find him.'

Sentenced to a two-year prison term, suspended for two years, Judge Guy Anthony said he came to the conclusion it was 'just about' possible to suspend the jail term due to Patel's previous good character, letters of support he had received and a new job he managed to secure.

He said: 'You took part in high-stakes gambling and, although you paid about a third of the money back, the company is still nearly £100,000 out of pocket."

While suspending the prison term, Judge Anthony said Patel must carry out 300 hours of unpaid work and return the outstanding amount. The court agreed Patel will initially pay back £1,000 a month but Neofytou said his client intended to pay the full amount as quickly as possible.