£115,000 round-world spree of rogue agent

A travel agent who cheated his bosses out of thousands of pounds in his desire to visit far-off places was today jailed for 18 months.

Ian Thurston, 34, took weekend long-distance trips and stayed in five-star hotels.

In New York, he would go for helicopter rides over Manhattan before returning to his desk in the City of London on Monday mornings.

While he was away in South Africa, France and Italy with his partner, he spent £3,500 on restaurants over nine months.

But he made a mistake by charging twice for something in the 188 invoices he used to forge expenses.

The Old Bailey was told today Thurston had financed his jet-set style secret life by stealing £115,000 from his company credit card.

Thurston, of Stoke Newington, pleaded guilty to stealing the money from the Dutch Rabo Bank over three years.

He ran a branch of British Travel International at the bank arranging international travel for employees.

Thurston wept in the dock as Judge Gregory Stone told him he had breached his employer's trust "to a considerable degree".