A football coach admitted stealing expensive golf clubs and other equipment from his employer which he later sold on eBay.

Alexander Foy took thousands of pounds worth of items from Medway Golf Centre in Headcorn where he had worked as customer services manager.

His pilfering came to light in September 2021 when expensive wedge clubs were offered at a discount price on the online auction site and it was discovered three were missing from the company's stock.

Bosses at the Headcorn Business Centre-based firm had a meeting with Foy who initially denied the thefts, but further stock checks revealed other items missing.

Not only was sporting equipment gone, it was discovered Foy had also been sending out parcels with the stolen items to the eBay buyers from the firm's shipment account which cost the company an additional £1,500.

The 31-year-old's employment ended after the thefts were discovered and bosses contacted police who later charged him with theft by employee.

Foy, of Abbey View Drive, Minster, had been a trusted employee since 2008 and had even been given a company car.

He appeared before Maidstone magistrates last Tuesday and pleaded guilty.

The thefts occurred between January 2020 and September 2021 with Foy said in court to have stolen £3,098.76 worth of items.

However, the centre's managing director, Paul Street, said after the hearing he believed the extent of the thefts was far more than stated.

He believes he lost tens of thousands of pounds of stock.

Mr Street was critical of the police's investigation, saying despite giving them a stack of evidence, which showed a much bigger financial loss, officers didn't investigate all the thefts properly.

He intends to complain to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

However, the force says a full and thorough investigation was carried out into the allegations of theft and all available information was comprehensively assessed.

Debbie Jones, prosecuting, told the court when the thefts came to light and his employment ended, bosses decided to withhold £1,500 from Foy's last pay packet to cover the cost of the parcels.

She said: "The golfing items were sold via a friend's eBay account and he (Foy) kept the profits."

The court also heard Foy, who used to be a volunteer coach for the under 12s' team at AFC Minster and now coaches Sittingbourne FC under 10s and also Swale FC under 12s, accepted responsibility.

He started stealing after he'd been furloughed during the pandemic, had lost his bonuses, was on a reduced income and had his company car taken back.

Magistrates also heard he accepted he'd let his employer down and was sorry, but had now managed to get another job at a scaffolding company.

The bench decided to jail Foy for four months, suspended for 12 months.

He was ordered to carry out 140 hours of unpaid work, pay £3,098.76 compensation to Mr Street and pay a victim surcharge of £128 and £85 costs.

Speaking after sentencing, Mr Street said: "The only positive I can take is that having secured a conviction it opens the path for me to serve notice of a private prosecution to recover the considerable funds required to cover the real value of the stock stolen from my company."