Daniel Turner was ordered to repay Harcourt Pine Center close to $5000 he stole in 2014 during a sentencing hearing at a Bendigo Court.

But he failed to pay a single cent and was re-sentenced in Warrnambool Magistrates Court on November 13, 2023.

The court heard Turner worked for the timber company, located north-east of Castlemaine, for about 12 months before being retrenched due to a lack of work on June 27, 2014.

He kept a BP fuel card belonging to the victim, despite no longer being an employee.

That card was used to purchase fuel for the business' work cars.

Turner used the card for personal use for about four months in 2014.

He used his former employer's money to buy himself food, fuel and cigarettes on 44 occasions across Victoria.

The purchases totalled $4659.

Turner used the card at 10 different BP service stations, including in Warrnambool, Port Fairy, Warragul, Kangaroo Flat, White Hills, Long Gully, Glenthompson, Moe and Officer.

The illegal use of the card was discovered on 8 September, 2014 and it was subsequently cancelled.

Turner later admitted to the theft, pleading guilty in 2018 and being placed on a court bond with the only condition being to repay the funds.

A criminal conviction was not recorded at that time.

But he failed to repay a single cent in the six years that followed.

A lawyer representing Turner said his life had taken a turn for the worse shortly after the bond was put in place and that he had spiralled out of control but was now in a better place.

But magistrate Gerard Lethbridge said it was not an insignificant amount of money and Turner had failed to comply with "what many would consider a very lenient sentence" back in 2018.

"All he had to do was simply restore his victim back to the position they were in before the crimes were committed," he said.

He said Turner had not only left the complainant "high and dry" but also acted in contempt of court.

Mr Lethbridge said theft from an employer was always considered a serious offence due to it being a breach of trust.

Turner was re-sentenced to a correction order that will run for 10 months and include 100 hours of unpaid community work.

He was also convicted, meaning the theft will now appear on his criminal record.