A lovesick sales assistant has been jailed after setting up a credit card scam to pay for texts to his Czech sweetheart.

Graham White, 32, of Carden Avenue, Brighton, was about to fly to Prague to see the woman of his dreams when police arrested him.

His hopes of love were dashed moments before boarding his flight when officers investigating a credit card fraud arrived and ordered his bags to be taken off the plane.

Hove Crown Court heard how White became smitten after meeting the woman from the Czech Republic.

He built up a number of bills on his mobile phone, two of more than £700 a month, by calling and texting his new girlfriend.

White used his credit card to pay the bills but debts then built up on his card.

To pay it off, the sales assistant decided to steal from his employer Carters Electrical Appliances, which has five shops across Sussex.

White began issuing himself false refunds for items he had never bought from the company.

Stephen Shay, prosecuting, said White, 32, claimed refunds on his credit card totalling £5,400 from Carters Electrical Appliances.

The fraud was discovered when Barclays Bank contacted director Robert Carter who confronted White.

The salesman denied doing any wrongdoing and claimed another employee had a grudge against him.

However, Mr Carter searched the rubbish of two stores at which White had worked and discovered papers which confirmed his suspicions.

White was sacked and the police were informed.

Mr Shay said: "White was due to go to Prague on holiday in September last year.

"He was arrested at Heathrow and his luggage was taken off the flight."

Tom Mackinnon, defending, said: "He is a 32-year-old man who, unusually, is still living at home with his parents.

"He met a girl from the Czech Republic and became smitten by her. He went crazy over her, so to speak."

White pleaded guilty last month to five charges of credit card fraud and appeared at Hove Crown Court yesterday for sentence.

The court heard he had been sacked by electrical store Dixons in 1997 after he stole takings from a safe, for which he completed 200 hours community service.

Mr Recorder Davis jailed him for a year for the latest offences, saying: "You have stolen again by obtaining refunds of credit to the tune of £5,400.

"The offence is so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence will be sufficient."