A TEENAGER who committed “the ultimate betrayal” by stealing almost £10,000 from his former employer, and threatening him ahead of a court case, is behind bars.

Joseph Mohamed, 19, burgled the Sanghera Supermarket in Underhill Circus, Barton, to pay off a loan he had used to buy items including a flatscreen TV and an Apple computer.

His conscience got the better of him and he gave himself up to police, confessing fully about his crime.

But just days before he was due to appear in court, he threatened the supermarket boss Namtej Sanghera with a rolling pin in the hope of making him drop charges.

Mohamed, of Longlands Road, Blackbird Leys, came to Britain as a Somalian refugee in 2001.

He had worked at the shop for 18 months and Mr Sanghera had “treated him like a son”, Oxford Crown Court heard.

The teenager admitted burglary of £9,800 and witness intimidation at an earlier hearing.

Clare Tucker, prosecuting, said Mohamed, who worked at the shop between 2006 and 2008, was captured on CCTV walking into the store’s office at about 8.10am on August 29 and stealing the week’s takings from a filing cabinet.

She said: “At 4.36pm (the same day) police received a 999 call from the defendant wanting to report he had stolen some money, about £8,000, from the supermarket.”

Miss Tucker said Mohamed was arrested and bailed to appear at court on December 18, but he went back to the store at 5.10am on December 11 and confronted Mr Sanghera with a rolling pin.

She said: “He said, ‘I want you to drop the case, I didn’t mean to do it’.

“Mr Sanghera said, ‘What did you do it for?’ and the defendant replied, ‘I needed the money; it’s best if you drop it’.

“‘I’m not dropping the case, I can’t drop that’, said Mr Sanghera, and Mr Joseph replied, ‘Then you will pay for it’.”

In a statement read to the court, 38-year-old Mr Sanghera said: “Emotionally, I cannot help thinking about what’s happened. I no longer feel comfortable in my own shop.”

He added: “We employed Mohamed for a year and treated him like a son. It feels like the ultimate betrayal. We’re taking each day at a time but I don’t think I will ever recover.”

David Rhodes, defending, said his client, who had gained two As and a B in his A Levels, had “got himself into a real mess and he made a real mess of getting out of it”.

He added: “These really were offences of what might be called youthful impetuosity.”

Recorder Susan Evans sent Mohamed to a youth-detention centre for 14 months and said: “This was all about living the sort of lifestyle you wanted... and buying what many people would term luxury items to set yourself up.”

A confiscation hearing, to determine whether Mohamed’s items can be sold to pay compensation, will be held later in the year.

tairs@oxfordmail.co.uk