FORMER Maidstone and Mid Kent Chamber of Commerce chief executive William Alder has been spared a prison sentence for stealing from the organisation over four years ago.

A judge decided on Wednesday that it would be "counter-productive after all these years" to put Alder behind bars.

The best way the community could be repaid for the criminality, he said, was to order 200 hours of unpaid work to be carried out.

The 56-year-old was also saved from repaying the cash he stole and footing the bill for court costs because he is unemployed and heavily in debt.

Alder, of Spot Lane, Bearsted, Maidstone, had been facing charges covering the theft of around £24,000 from the Chamber, but his guilty plea to 11 charges involving £1,765 was accepted.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that he used a credit card given to him to pay for expenses for his own use, including sending flowers to an ex-girlfriend in the United States.

David Ross, prosecuting, said Alder was appointed chief executive in August 2000 on a salary of £20,000 a year, plus expenses.

He and first took his expenses from petty cash, but because it kept running out he was in May 2001 issued with a credit card with a £2,000 limit.

Before being given the card, Alder's expenses were about £200 a month. After it was issued, they soared to about £2,000 a month. In a 15-month period he spent £28,000 on the card.

The prosecutor said matters came to a head in September 2002, when an auditor's report showed the Chamber was making a loss and there appeared to be irregularities.

Alder took an overdose and resigned on September 23 that year.

"He then disappeared and it was not until August 26 2005 that he was arrested at Heathrow airport, having arrived on a flight from Canada," said Mr Ross.

Mr Ross said Alder had not repaid any of the money he stole. The Chamber had now merged with the Ashford branch.

Judge Statman told Alder that if he had pleaded guilty to the full extent of the original indictment, he would have had no alternative but to send him to prison for a substantial period.

But the reality was that the dishonesty over 10 months amounted to £1,765.

"More than anyone else in the community you knew how much the Chamber was suffering and struggling economically and you had been employed to sort it out," he said.

"The sadness of this is you were successful in what you were doing. Then, you go and ruin it with this case of dishonesty. Also, you were in a position of trust when you did it."

Maidstone Chamber of Commerce stopped trading in 2003 after plunging into the red by nearly £50,000.

Alder is a former newspaper entrepreneur, who set up the Milton Keynes Citizen and Aberdeen Independent.