GAZETTE & HERALD: A CORSHAM cabbie who escaped a jail term after admitting pocketing hundreds of pounds of his boss's takings could still end up behind bars.

John Wolf, formerly of Bradford Road, Corsham, and now of Corsham Road, Lacock, was ordered to do 140 hours community service when he appeared before a judge at Swindon Crown Court in July last year.

But the 26-year-old who also uses the surname Heath faces re-sentence as he has completed less than half of the order.

Wolf came up with spurious stories after taking the money during a weekend in January last year, the court was told.

At a previous hearing Kate Brown, prosecuting, said Wolf worked for taxi driver Malcolm Coomber in one of his cabs.

She said: "On January 10 the defendant contacted the victim and informed him that £70 of his takings had been taken from him as a result of blackmail incident in Corsham.

"Mr Coomber was unhappy about it and wanted to have it reported to the police. The defendant said he would repay the money so he continued employing him.

"The following day the arrangement was for the takings to be given to Mr Coomber.

"He got some with a cheque which Wolf said had been given to him by a customer. That was cashed and subsequently referred to drawer."

Miss Brown said the same thing happened two days later on January 13 and Wolf was finally questioned by police.

She said: "He denied that he had been given cheques on either occasion. He said he had memory loss and blackouts and had difficulty remembering."

At the time of the offences he was on a conditional discharge imposed by magistrates in October 2002 for deception.

Those matters dated from last summer when he obtained Chinese meals and mobile phones by falsely representing someone else.

Wolf pleaded guilty to the thefts totalling £205.60.

Claire Harden, defending, produced a cheque drawn on a solicitor's account for the amount lost.

She said Wolf had paid them the money so the cheque would not bounce.

"He has always said he wished to recompense Mr Coomber and now he has.

"He gave a guilty plea and he accepts that all the offences were aggravated by a breach of trust."

At the latest hearing, Judge Charles Wade adjourned the matter for a pre-sentence report to be prepared on the defendant.

He warned Wolf that all sentencing options were open, including the possibility of a custodial sentence.