General manager at Honesty Group Ltd, Vladimir Gajdos, stole £58,000 from The Crown and Garter at Inkpen

A TRUSTED manager at a major West Berkshire hospitality group stole almost £60,000.

Vladimir Gajdos had been promoted to general manager at The Crown and Garter in Inkpen when he trousered the cash and squandered much of it on gambling.

The Crown and Garter is a part of the Honesty Group collection of coffee shops, pubs and farm shops founded by Romilla Arber in 2014 and has multiple sites across West Berkshire and Hampshire.

On Wednesday, August 12, Gajdos, of Craven Road, Newbury, appeared in the dock for a preliminary hearing at Reading Magistrates’ Court.

The 42-year-old father of two admitted a single charge of theft by employee.

Specifically, Gajdos pleaded guilty to stealing £58,000.22 belonging to the Honesty Group Ltd between December 1, 2021, and September 15, 2022.

Jaimini Renuka, prosecuting, said Gajdos was supposed to have banked the cash but, over a 10-month period “didn’t do what he was supposed to do and took the money for himself”.

She added: “Of course, the aggravating features are the breach of trust over a period of time and the value of the money taken.”

Gajdos, who was accompanied to the hearing by his female partner, told the court: “I’m really sorry things happened this way.

“I’m really sorry I’m in this situation – all I ever wanted to do was to promote and treat the place as my own in the best possible way.”

David Anderson, defending, said his client was a man of previous good character.

He said a dispute had arisen over taxi fares.

Mr Anderson explained: “The company owns several restaurants, hotels and cafés.

“Mr Gajdos was promoted from one of them to The Crown and Garter; it was the move from one to the other that created transport issues.

“First the firm said they’d pay for taxis, then said they wouldn’t.”

When Gajdos was caught, he was given an opportunity to pay back the cash.

But he had a gambling problem, said Mr Anderson, and failed to do so.

It was than that the police were called and he was arrested.

Mr Anderson suggested that a suspended sentence would be appropriate.

But district judge Evelyn Warner said she would be sending the case to a higher authority for sentencing, stating: “It will be a matter for the crown court.”

She told Gajdos: “The value of the money is high, particularly for a small business.

“This is a very serious offence and one for which you could go to prison.”

Indeed, the guidelines recommended a starting point of two years’ imprisonment, with a range of one to three years, said Judge Warner.

She ordered a pre-sentence report to be prepared and committed the matter to Reading Crown Court for sentencing on a date to be fixed.

Gajdos was meanwhile released on unconditional bail.