A disgraced Tory councillor who betrayed the bank he worked for in a "carefully planned" attempt to pocket nearly �200,000 has been jailed for 18 months.

Michael Griffiths, 42, from Hertfordshire, regularly handled high value share certificates for his City bosses as part of his job.

But on one occasion he slipped documents into his pockets at the Royal Bank of Scotland and took them home.

Later, while on sick leave, he used forged documentation and posed as a solicitor to transfer the �190,000 shares into his own name, London's Southwark Crown Court was told.

To my mind, this was a carefully planned piece of dishonesty, in breach of the trust placed in you

Judge Robin Laurie

Because he was off work, he was unaware the absence of the certificates had triggered an internal investigation.

Instead of admitting what he had done, Griffiths, of Rose Heath, Hemel Hempstead, claimed he had really been part of a secret training exercise to test security.

Fall from grace

The father of two, sporting a pair of black eyes after allegedly being attacked by a cellmate on Thursday, showed no reaction as Judge Robin Laurie told him he only had himself to blame for his fall from grace.

The judge said Griffiths had not only been a member of Dacorum Borough Council "serving your fellow citizens, but working in a responsible job with a bank in the City" when he turned to crime.

"To my mind, this was a carefully planned piece of dishonesty, in breach of the trust placed in you... you were playing for high stakes," said the judge.

"Despite the account you gave to the jury, which they disbelieved without any difficulty, you were found guilty and, in my view, on the plainest possible evidence."

Griffiths had earlier been found guilty of two counts of theft and one of attempting to obtain services by deception.