A Clarks manager who stole stock from a Powys store has been ordered to pay back almost £19,000 or face more time in prison.

Allyn Lee Hooper was jailed for 15 months after he admitted the theft from the shop in Brecon town centre between July 2018 and September 2020.

The shop manager was caught by an audit that found he was processing cash refunds but stock was not being returned. He was later sacked from the role and twice interviewed by police before being charged with theft.

Hooper was this week ordered to pay compensation to footwear retailers Soldzone Limited, of Abergavenny, which is worth £18,959.71 and a £140 victim surcharge within three months or face up to five years in jail.

READ MORE: Clarks manager jailed for Brecon, Powys stock theft

A proceeds of crime hearing at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Monday, October 16, heard that Hooper, formerly of Gurnos, Merthyr Tydfil, will pay what is owed through £41,587 equity held in a property in the town that lies in the southern edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park.

During a sentencing hearing in June, Recorder Eugene Egan told the 30-year-old dad of two that the offending was so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence would be appropriate.

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"I acknowledge others will suffer - your family - but you knew what you were doing,” he said.

“You played high stakes with your eyes wide open, and it went on and on and on.

“This was dishonest on multiple occasions. You knew each and every time it was dishonest. It was breathtaking arrogance keep offending time after time. You spectacularly failed to set an example.”