A SHOPPING mall boss from Basingstoke who denied paying himself more than £3,000 from his employers’ coffers was convicted of theft by a jury today.

Stephen Fawke was caught out when his former employers found an undated cheque stub, that just had the name of a mystery company on it, left in the firm’s chequebook.

It led to the discovery that £3,245 had gone missing from the company’s accounts and was paid into a personal bank account Fawke shared with his wife.

However, it was only found after Fawke, aged 58 years, had left his job at the Broad Street Mall in Reading to take over The Brunel Centre in Swindon.

Fawke, of Amazon Close, Brookvale, claimed that he was owed the money by the firm he moonlighted for, Elite Management Solutions, which was contracted to fit disabled toilets in Broad Street Mall before the money was taken. He admitted to taking the money but remained defiant that he had not stolen it.

But jurors convicted the 58-year-old of a single count of theft, by a majority verdict, after nearly six hours of deliberations and he will return to the same court on June 17 for sentencing.

The court heard Fawke was described as a “delightful” character by millionaire business entrepreneur Sir John Madejski, who wrote a character reference in Fawke’s defence.

Autotrader founder Sir John, a close friend of the late Cilla Black and former owner of Reading Football Club, wrote and signed the character reference on April 8 this year, which was read by defence barrister Christopher Blake.

The statement read: “I have known Stephen Fawke for over 10 years and he has always been the most delightful person.

"I have dealt with him in business and he has always been on the ball.

"I really value his friendship and integrity and I am aware I have been asked to make this statement in connection with an allegation of dishonesty.

"In all my dealings with him I have never been given any reason to doubt him in that respect."

During cross examination, Fawke described how not dating the cheque stub was the “biggest mistake” of his life as he protested his innocence.

He said: “We all make mistakes Mr Baig (prosecutor) and this is the biggest mistake I have made in my life.

“If I wanted to steal money I could have stolen an inordinate amount of money from the charity tins that we shook about every day and nobody would have known.

“I accept that what I did was wrong but it was not dishonest.”

Fawke was released on conditional bail and ordered to return to Reading Crown Court on June 17 for sentence.