A CO-OP manager has admitted stealing thousands of pounds worth of electrical goods and selling them at half price on eBay.

Christian Allen took £25,840 of goods from the Okehampton store and sold them for about £12,000 on the internet auction site over a period of two years.

He told police he started stealing because he was being blackmailed by a mystery man who left threatening notes on the windscreen of his car.

Father-of-two Allen, aged 28, of Fern Close, Okehampton, admitted theft when he appeared before Exeter Crown Court.

Judge David Evans adjourned the sentence and ordered a probation report.

He questioned whether Allen was still standing by the bizarre story he told the police.

 He said: ‘On the face of it, it seems incredible. It may make a difference to sentence.

‘He says he was selling these electrical goods on eBay because a mystery individual was putting notes on his car windscreen and demanding cash.

‘He says that is why he was stealing, rather than because he saw the opportunity to make money.’

Mr Gordon Richings, prosecuting, said: ‘We do not accept this fantastic story about him being blackmailed.

‘We say he simply stole the £25,840 worth of electrical goods, which appear to have been sold for about £12,000.

‘That is how much he got for selling them on eBay. We say there was a breach of a high degree of trust, bearing in mind the position he occupied at the time.’

Mr Lee Bremridge, defending, said Allen was a man of previous good character who had two children, aged seven and 15 months.

He said he accepted he took the goods and sold them and there would not need to be a hearing to test whether the account he gave to the police was true.