A CARELESS driver got a job as a bus driver by lying about his criminal past before stealing thousands from the company.

Leovon Domain, also known as Mohammed Daoud, lied to get a £18,000 a year job with Diamond buses (Rotala PLC) in Worcestershire.

The 27-year-old of Chatham Court, Northfield, Birmingham appeared at Worcester Crown Court on Monday.

He admitted fraud between July 7 and September 11 last year (failing to disclose criminal convictions) and theft between August 4 and September 11 last year after stealing £2,226 from Diamond.

Laura Culley, prosecuting, said staff noticed anomalies in Domain's takings.

Domain, who has 'a number of aliases', stole the money by only including receipts from the start and end of his journeys to 'siphon off money for himself'.

Last September staff confronted him after he left his bus at the Kingfisher Shopping Centre in Redditch to go to the depot at Plymouth Road.

Domain refused to hand over takings and asked 'where is this all going?', blaming 'a training issue' for the irregularity.

He said he would bring the money by midday but never returned and his job was terminated.

Miss Culley said: "He had a number of previous convictions which surprised them because one of his references was from the police and crime commissioner which was a strange element of the case."

Domain received a suspended sentence for fraud in November 2010 after defrauding Selfridges of £19,000.

He has appeared in court for making a false representation to obtain car insurance and again earlier this month for possession of cannabis which resulted in a conditional discharge.

A knee injury and tendon damage to his arm made him unsuitable for unpaid work while his 'intellectual development did not match his chronological years'.

Amrisha Parathalingam, defending, said of the father-of-two: "He's ashamed of his behaviour and sorry for the inconvenience he has caused to the court."

Judge Nicolas Cartwright said Domain's fraud meant he was able to drive members of the public around for two months. Previous suspended sentences had failed to act as a deterrent.

He said: "You are someone who has demonstrated that you are capable of driving without due care and attention and when it seems highly likely you were over the limit or thought you were, committing an offence of failing to provide a specimen for analysis.

"The potential harm is to people driven around in your bus by someone who should never have been behind the wheel of that bus."

The judge sentenced him to 60 weeks in prison.