An IT manager has been jailed for stealing almost £130,000 from his employers so he could 'fund the extravagant lifestyle of his demanding girlfriend'.

Simon Rey splashed out on goods including flat screen televisions, 40 iPads, laptops and iPhone 6's, charging it to his workplace, the Money Advice Group on Carrington, Manchester.

The company grew suspicious when bosses found a mobile phone bill which exceeded £23,000 in just one month, while Rey was enjoying a holiday in Thailand.

The 40-year-old was jailed for 20 months after admitting fraud at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester.

Simon Rey, 40, has been jailed for 20 months after admitting fraud - but claimed he spent £130,000 worth of goods to please his demanding girlfriend

Rey bought goods through the company for his own personal use including flat screen TVs, 40 iPad's, five HP laptop's, five Microsoft Surface's, five Apple laptop's, 30 PC's, 10 servers and four iPhone 6's.

He was caught out when bosses looked at his Twitter account and found a picture of the one of the items along with the caption: 'loving my new TV'.

But he told the court he sold the items for profit after he found himself trapped in a relationship with a woman who was 'not easy to live with.'

Rey, who lived with his girlfriend at an apartment in Chester, later admitted making £50,000 from selling the items.

He claimed saying he frittered away most of it on gambling and drinking 'to conquer his inadequacies.'

Minshull Street Crown Court heard Rey, who now lives in Connah Quays, North Wales stole goods totalling £127,709.31.

Profits at the firm at the end of the 2015 financial year were £7 million but in the year ending June 2016, the firm posted a loss of £363,000.

Rey gave no comment in police interview, and offered to pay back £5 as he 'was broke'.

The 40-year-old was jailed for 20 months after admitting fraud at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester

His lawyer Timothy Storrie told the court Rey's partner 'was not an easy woman to live with.'

He added: 'She spent his money, was physically abusive to him - and the experience was emotionally draining.

'The physical abuse sometimes came to the attention of others around him. On one occasion the police spoke to them because of her behaviour towards him in the street. But he excused the treatment as victims of domestic violence often do and blamed it on her having too much to drink.

'When she lost her job, he reassured her that she need not worry and she could continue to spend as she had.

'This meant he had to perpetrate and maintain this fraud. This was to fund an extravagant lifestyle to keep his partner happy. This was an emotional response that was a vicious circle.'

Prosecutor Christopher Beckwith said Rey became manager of the IT department in September 2009 and dealt with equipment and phone systems.

In April 2015 the company received a monthly mobile phone bill of £32,489.76 when previous invoices were in the region of £6,800.

Mr Beckwith said: 'The sum of £23,661.14 was the defendant's own phone bill. This raised some eyebrows and it appears he was away in Thailand at the time.

'It was decided he would be suspended on June 9 2016 for an internal investigation. They showed that the defendant had ordered property through the firm and taken the property for himself.'

Sentencing Rey, Judge Mark Savill told him: 'It can hardly be described as sophisticated, there was little chance of success in the endeavours, the fact remains that the reason you were allowed to get away with this for so long is because you were a trusted member of staff, solely responsible for that area of the business.

'Those who employed you have found themselves less likely to trust others and all that is down to your sustained dishonesty.

'You are capable of leading a decent and honest life. I make no secret of the fact this causes me great difficulty. But it has to be immediate custody because of the period of time, abuse of trust and amount of money.'