James Colin Edwards stole from Marist Sports Club, the same club in which he hid a camera to film women using the bathroom.

A bar manager who became addicted to stealing says he fleeced $26,000 from a Manawatū sports club to support his children.

It's the same club James Colin Edwards, 31, hid a camera in to film women using the bathroom in mid-2016.

In the Palmerston North District Court on Thursday, Edwards was sentenced to five months' home detention. He has repaid the outstanding sum.

The court heard Edwards was hired in 2015 as a sales employee at Liquor King in Palmerston North.

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The store supplied the club alcohol, but also contracted Edwards out as its bar manager.

That position came with various responsibilities, including ordering stock from Liquor King and managing returns and refunds to the liquor store.

He used that scheme to rip off the club between February 2017 and June 2018 by processing refunds, but siphoning money to his accounts or having it paid as cash instead of it going back to the club.

Edwards was able to do so without raising suspicion at Liquor King because he was responsible for both sides of the transaction.

DAVID UNWIN/STUFF Marist Sports Club in Palmerston North, where women were filmed using the toilet over four Saturdays in mid-2016.

In total, he made 54 dishonest transactions to his back accounts and several cash payouts, totalling $26,652.

He refunded $2126 in June 2018, and the remaining $24,525 in January.

Judge Stephanie Edwards said the offending was aggravated by the amount he stole, length of time and number of transactions.

Edwards told police he had come out of a relationship and didn't have much property or money.

"You wanted to be in a position to support your children. Once you started, you began relying on money and couldn't stop," the judge said.

"You, at times, supported the club in other ways, like working events and not being paid to do so."

Marist representatives declined to take part in a restorative justice conference with Edwards. "[That] indicates they have strong feelings about the impact of this offending on the club."

This is the second home detention sentence for Edwards in 12 months after he served four months in 2019 for installing cameras in a unisex toilet.

The camera had a motion sensor, triggering recording to begin when someone entered the bathroom.

Police found still images and videos of females using the bathroom when they searched Edwards' property, including some of women who worked at the club using the toilet and getting changed.

Police were unable to identify 50 other females.