A 36-year-old man pleaded guilty at Magistrates' Court to dishonestly obtaining more than $3,000 in liquor from the Burrows Lightbourn store in Hamilton.

Crown counsel Paula Tyndale told how Jay Ming, was fired from Greg's Stake House in February and charged $3,471.20 worth of alcohol to the company's Burrows Lightbourn account — without authorisation.

Ming, of Middle Road, Paget, visited the store 11 times between February 22 and March 26, each time telling store employees the drinks were for the restaurant.

The tab included multiple cases of beer, wine, whisky, rum and vodka. Police arrested Ming on March 31, after his former employer realised what was going on.

None of the items could be recovered as Ming admitted in court to selling them in the "black" market to support his drug addiction.

He told Acting Magistrate Justin Williams: "This crime was motivated by drugs and I was going to sell it on the black market. I had a relapse at the time."

Ming, who was not represented, is already serving a 12-month sentence with three years probation, which he started in April for a similar conviction.

The court also heard he had multiple convictions dating back to 1987, including dishonesty offences.

He apologised to the court, before Mr. Williams sentenced him to another 12-month prison term, to run concurrently.