A 60-YEAR-OLD former security driver from Ipswich who diddled Securicor out of more than £7,000 was today sentenced to 21 months in jail.Alan Walker, a grandfather from Willoughby Road, Ipswich, worked as a full time Saturday driver for Securicor and Omega Express in Great Whip Street, Stoke Bridge Industrial Estate.

A 60-YEAR-OLD former security driver from Ipswich who diddled Securicor out of more than £7,000 was today sentenced to 21 months in jail.

Alan Walker, a grandfather from Willoughby Road, Ipswich, worked as a full time Saturday driver for Securicor and Omega Express in Great Whip Street, Stoke Bridge Industrial Estate.

Ipswich Crown Court heard how for a period of three months from the end of December 2001 to the beginning of April 2002 Walker submitted a number of false and inflated invoices to his employers.

He was caught "red handed" by branch manager Rita Clark when she spotted a series of discrepancies.

She reported the inaccuracies to the security manager who brought Walker before a disciplinary hearing on April 23, 2002.

Walker admitted the deception and paid back more than £2,000 from the £7,379.56 taken.

The court heard how the amateurish nature of the scam ensured Walker, who recently split up from a partner and now lives alone, would be caught.

Defender Jeremy Dugdale said: "Until his disciplinary hearing Mr Walker had a partner who had separated from her husband and asked him for money. He paid for her and even bought school uniforms for her children. There is a sense he could have been a soft touch."

But the court heard that Walker had a string of previous convictions for theft in 1990, 1994 and 1997.

In July 1997 he was sentenced to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to siphoning off several thousands pounds from a Cambridge shop where he then worked.

Today in court Walker, who now earns £800 a week as a delivery driver for Business Post, admitted eight counts of obtaining money transfers by deception.

Judge John Holt said: "He discovered and exploited the weakness in an accounting system that depended on trust. You came before this court having already been convicted on three separate occasions. You knew how serious this was and that you ran a clear risk of a prison sentence."

He ordered 21 months sentence on each count of obtaining money transfers by deception to run concurrently.