text: Guilty: Glenn Mason, 56, has said he will pay back the whole £185,000 out of his RBS pension pot . A respected NatWest bank manager who was jailed for stealing £185,000 from his elderly customers to fund his internet gambling addiction will have to pay back every penny. Glenn Mason, 56, plundered the accounts of nine pensioners including an 83 year-old woman and a 92 year-old man living near his branch in Biggin Hill, Kent, the Old Bailey heard. Mason, who was given an award by the Metropolitan Police in Bromley in 2009 for his crime fighting efforts, got away with the thefts for almost a year before his arrest in July 2012. His attempts to cover up his crime by transferring money using the identity of two of his colleagues, Julie Jeffrey, 50, and James Cato, 35, led to them being sacked and charged with fraud. It was only when Mason pleaded guilty in September that the case against them was dropped at the Old Bailey. Mason, who was jailed for 15 months in November last year, has said he will pay back the whole £185,000 out of his RBS pension pot. The bank has already refunded the customers targeted by Mason, and will receive the money as compensation. ‘The benefit was £185,000 and the recoverable amount is greater than that so the available amount will be the same’, said prosecutor David Hughes. ‘The loser here ultimately was RBS - they had to reimburse the account holders.’ Mr Hughes said the bank had started civil proceedings against Mason, as well as the compensation claim that comes after a criminal conviction. ‘If he makes a payment from his pension pot to RBS then that would deal with these proceedings and they would come to an end.’ Mason, who sobbed in the dock as he was jailed, did not appear in court for today’s hearing. Judge Stephen Kramer QC will confirm the money has been paid at a short hearing on May 15. At his sentencing hearing, Andrew Lawson, representing Mason, said the bank manager turned to gambling after his teenage son was injured by a roadside bomb while fighting with British troops in Afghanistan. Mr Lawson said that all of the stolen money was paid into his gambling account and told the court: ‘It was late night poker and online games that are designed to tempt you into spending money in the hope of a big win.’ The court also heard statements from two of Mason’s victims, Julie Amos and Leslie Pilditch, who both said they no longer felt able to trust banks. Julie Jeffrey also described how she lost her job after her arrest and added: ‘I no longer feel proud, my life has fallen apart.’ Mason's actions took place at Natwest in Biggin Hill (pictured). The bank manager was said to have turned to gambling after his teenage son was injured by a roadside bomb while fighting  in Afghanistan . Elaine May, the current manager of the NatWest Biggin Hill branch, also said in a statement that the thefts had ‘an ongoing impact within the community’ and put strain upon the staff. Mason continues to live in the area with his wife and son and has been working in a local newsagents. The judge, Mr Recorder Simon Farrell QC, told him: ‘You stole roughly £185,000 over a period of a year from nine victims who were all elderly and undoubtedly vulnerable. ‘Your fellow worker Julie Jeffrey, who was falsely arrested because you used her ID details to steal the money, described how, having worked for NatWest since the age of 16, losing her job as a 50 year-old woman and being reduced to delivery leaflets in all weathers. ‘Plainly these are very serious offences which everyone agrees cross the custody threshold. ‘You are of previous good character and someone who has suffered considerable personal tragedy. ‘Your wife suffered from cancer in 2005 and your son at only 19 went to Afghanistan to fight for his country and was the victim of an improvised explosive device that caused him very serious injury. ‘I accept this caused you to develop a serious gambling addiction which was in fact the root cause of stealing the money from customers. ‘In my judgement I am afraid these matters are so serious that I am not able to suspend the sentence. The best I can do is to pass a sentence of 15 months imprisonment. But for your personal mitigation this sentence would have been far longer.’ Mason, of Flamborough Close, Biggin Hill, pleaded guilty to a single charge of fraud. The case against Jeffrey, of Court Road, Orpington, Kent, and Cato, of Robert Street, Plumstead, south London, was discontinued by the prosecution.
target: Glenn Mason was jailed for 15 months for fraud in November last year .
  He stole £185,000 from his elderly customers to fund a gambling addiction .
  Two of his colleagues were sacked after Mason used their identities .
  Mason will repay every penny of the money he stole out of his pension pot .