Stanford Rickard pocketed money he should have given to bosses Denis Hartley and Son Limited of Colne, and also helped himself to two pensioners' life savings which they had put aside for funeral plans.

One of the victims was partially blind, and the defendant was rumbled after the other pensioner had handed over nearly £2,500 for her own funeral, then heard nothing.

Rickard tried to get her to lie for him and say she had given the cash to a relative, Burnley Crown Court heard.

Rickard had earlier admitted two counts of theft – £11,900 from Denis Hartley and Son between May last year and March this year and £1,900 from Ada Lickess. He was given 10 months in prison, suspended for two years with 300 hours' unpaid work.

Sentencing Rickard (42), of Fir Street, Nelson, Judge Christina Lyon said: "You profited cynically from your position and put the victims through an immense amount of heartache."

Miss Sarah Statham (prosecuting) said the defendant had worked for the Hartley family for six years.

The Hartleys were alerted to problems when a client handed over £2,475 to the defendant in February for a pre-payment funeral plan, but heard nothing more. They contacted their solicitors and searched Rickard's briefcase where they found Mrs Maude's application but no money.

Miss Statham said Rickard had taken the cash and never put it in the pre-payment plan. The Hartleys contacted their solicitors again and began to make further inquiries.

The defendant told his bosses he had a gambling addiction and was fired. The prosecutor said the day after Rickard was dismissed, the Hartleys found another client, a friend of the defendant, had paid £1,800 for her mother's funeral but it never reached them. Police were contacted and the defendant admitted he had taken £11,900.

Mr Tim Storrie (defending) said his client's reputation would hound him for the future. His partner had suffered a stroke last year. The barrister said: "At the time he might have been nursing her, he was gambling, and gambling because he was addicted."