A former O2 employee is facing a lengthy prison sentence after he admitted stealing £115,000 worth of new iPhone 5s.

Usman Sethi, 23, from Ilford, was a sales assistant at the O2 shop in Colliers Wood when 252 new phones, due to go on sale the next day, were delivered on September 20 last year. 

Sethi stole the gadgets, worth more than £100,000, having stolen jewellery from his sister at his home address in Ilford the same week.

Appearing via video link from Wandsworth Prison at Kingston Crown Court on Tuesday, it was suggested Sethi suffered from a gambling problem.

Sethi entered a guilty plea on both counts of theft and was told he would be facing a substantial prison sentence.

He is expected to appear at Kingston Crown Court for sentencing on March 5.