The illegally-obtained points would have been worth £81,000
A Sainsbury's IT worker who stole more than 17 million Nectar points from the firm has been jailed.
James Stevenson created false accounts to give himself the points under the shop's reward card system, the Old Bailey heard.
The points would have been worth £81,000 to Stevenson, 45, from Muswell Hill, north London.
He was sentenced to 20 months in prison for fraud but will be released after 10 months, on licence.
Stevenson had worked for the company for two decades and had access to the IT networks controlling the Nectar card scheme.
He created 18 accounts and added points to them between 2003 and 2004, the court heard.
But he waited until 2007 and 2008 to begin using the points.
Stevenson then went on test runs, buying only one item at a time, the court heard.
When Stevenson's fraud was discovered by Sainsbury's, he told them he had "discovered a loophole in the system", the court heard.
Trusted employee
He was ordered to repay £8,120 he stole to pay for goods.
Edward McKiernan, prosecuting, said: "There wasn't a proper check in place. He was a trusted employee so no-one was looking over his shoulder."
Every 500 Nectar points is equivalent to £2.50. Customers usually receive two points for every pound spent in a store.
They can be redeemed in shops such as Argos, Homebase and on the Amazon website.
Tears in court
Judge Peter Thornton told Stevenson: "Your motive was clearly greed. This was a carefully-planned, well-worked fraud on Sainsbury's."
The father of two's defence team argued he had shown remorse for the crime.
A Sainsbury's spokeswoman said: "Our internal systems to prevent fraud are very robust.
"When the actions of Mr Stevenson came to light we took appropriate action and we are pleased that the legal process has now come to an end."
