A gambling addict who set up an organisation in Bristol to give ex offenders a second chance in life but then squandered more than £82,000 of its funds has been jailed for three years.

Andrew Brown set up CLEO, Community Links for Ex Offenders, to help reduce crime in the Hartcliffe and Withywood areas of Bristol but helped himself to cash from the company's account to fund his gambling.

The 52-year-old, of Somerset Street, Redcliffe, was rumbled when he failed to turn up at work and workers didn't receive their Christmas salary.

When staff went round to his home he appeared to be packing his clothes.

One victim, Margaret Longley, who was employed by CLEO, which was forced to shut down, said in a statement that the whole incident had left her ill.

"I have been left with no money or job to return to. The CLEO project has gone.

"This has completely changed my life. I have worked in this community for over 35 years. He's taken my whole life away and my secure future."

Brown, an ex offender himself who received a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years in 1991 for five offences of theft from an employee when he worked for the Post Office, was arrested and later admitted one charge of fraud.

James Ward, prosecuting at Bristol Crown Court, said Brown committed the fraud between July and December 2007.

He said the gambler had first used his own money to fund his addiction but when that ran out turned to CLEO's Co-operative bank account.

The defendant was said to have made 24 money transfers totalling £58,675 into his own account and 105 withdrawals from cash machines totalling £24,160.

Mr Ward told how Brown approached Hartcliffe and Withywood Ventures in 1998 and alongside it set up CLEO, which aimed to give ex offenders a second chance to find employment and sort their lives out.

"Brown ran the project as a project manager. He found a range of fundraisers for the scheme and that continued until 2003," said Mr Ward.

He said the defendant then became director of CLEO and the project became independent to Hartcliffe and Withywood Ventures.

"In April 2004 this company was up and running and it was suggested that electronic banking with the Co-operative Bank should be set up. It would make it easier for him to operate CLEO," said Mr Ward.

He said Brown's wife, Belinda Brown, had been company secretary but divorced the defendant and it became known at CLEO that he was gambling again.

However the court heard that Brown's authority of the company's finances was not questioned because the ethos of CLEO was to give ex offenders a second opportunity.

"In 2007 things started to go wrong.

"In December 2007 Andrew Brown had been off sick since the 19th. There was an annual general meeting arranged for the 20th.

On January 2, a worker, Margaret Longley, said she was concerned she had not heard from Brown and they had not had their Christmas salary.

"They thought they were paid by BACS so they were surprised to hear Brown was responsible for paying.

"They went round to Brown's address. They thought he had committed suicide. He had shirts over the backs of chairs and shoes lined up as if planning to go somewhere.

"He had left behind a 120-page suicide letter. The Crown say he wasn't intent on committing suicide. If he was caught the letter would be put before a court to show his state of mind at the time.

"Eventually Brown surfaced.

"He said he was sorry he had left CLEO in a mess and they would not find any money in the account.

"Asked if the money could be retrieved he laughed and said 'no it's long gone mate'. It seems it was spent to fund his gambling habit," said Mr Ward.

He said the company was wound up on March 31 last year and has ceased to trade.

Mrs Longley said Brown had told her he was back gambling "big time" and she knew a lot of money was missing.

She said she had been told Brown had been seen out and about enjoying restaurants and watching Bristol City play football

Ian Dixey, defending, said CLEO had been set up legitimately by his client who didn't start gambling until 2006.

He said Brown ran up credit card accounts and his habit led to the break up of his marriage.

He started stealing from CLEO in July 2007 and the project was said to have been overtaken by Brown's "personal demons."

Mr Dixey said the fraud had been unsophisticated and there had been no attempt to cover it up.

Jailing Brown for three years, Judge David Ticehurst said he had committed a "fraud on vulnerable people."

"You are 52-years-old and have pleaded guilty to a serious offence, an offence of fraud that involved you taking £82,835 from the organisation you worked for and were instrumental in setting up.

"Over a period of six months you transferred that organisation's money to your own account.

"CLEO, Community Links for Ex Offenders was set up and intended to reduce crime in the Hartcliffe and Withywood areas of Bristol.

"I accept initially that was set up by you as a legitimate organisation and not with the intention of defrauding it.

"It's also clear that as a result of your theft individuals suffered.

"Clearly you were unconcerned about your actions on other people. It was a breach of trust, a fraud on vulnerable people.

"The only sentence I can impose is an immediate custodial sentence," he said.