A man who stole more than £3,000 from a bookmakers in a fake robbery involving his daughter has been jailed.

Anthony Whyte, 46, of Greenway, Maidstone, entered a Ladbrokes store in Edgware, London, on October 9, 2016 and demanded cash via a note which read 'put money in bag no tricks no buzzers'.

Chevvine Darling, 28, was one of two cashiers working on the day, and handed over a total of £3,870 and subsequently reported she had been robbed by an unknown male.

Whyte was forensically linked to the crime scene and was arrested by officers on March 27 last year.

Examination of his mobile phone identified a link to one of the cashiers prior to and after the theft and further investigation identified that the cashier was in fact his daughter.

Darling was arrested at her home address in Colindale on April 17, 2017 and two mobile phones were seized.

Analysis of the phones revealed a number linked to ‘dad’, which she was in contact with throughout the day of the offence.

Further enquiries revealed Darling had breached company protocol with the regards to the amount of cash in the safe thus facilitating the theft.

At Kingston Crown Court this week, Whyte pleaded guilty to theft and offered a basis of plea in which he stated he was only aware that it was his daughter half way through the offence. He said he thought she worked at a different branch.

He was sentenced to 15 months in jail for this offence, plus an additional 21 months' imprisonment for a further robbery committed on December 4, 2016 at another Ladbrokes store, where he made demands and stole just over £400.

He was also disqualified from driving for 30 months.

Darling was convicted of conspiracy to steal and perverting the course of justice and was handed a suspended sentence.

Detective constable Emma Butcher, of the Met’s Flying Squad, said: “Chevvine Darling abused her position of trust to allow her father to steal a significant sum of money from the bookmakers.

"The other cashier working on the day, who believed it was a real robbery, suffered unnecessary fear and upset due to her selfish actions.

"The jail sentences handed out to both defendants reflects the consequences of committing these type of offences.”