Kept jewellery found at work
A WORKER at Mayside must have suspected that jewellery worth £35,525 which he found in a bag that came in for recycling had not been discarded deliberately, the Magistrate’s Court was told.
David Board, 71, of Flat 4, Victoria Terrace, Church Road, St Sampson’s, had denied counts of theft and fraud by false representation but was found guilty of both at trial.
The trial had heard how he found 12 items of jewellery in a pink Radley bag among paper on the conveyor belt. He kept the bulk of the items for himself and sold some, which were mainly scrap, for £470, to Ray & Scott Jewellers on the Bridge. His crime was uncovered after the owner went to the same jewellers seeking valuation for insurance purposes after noticing her items were missing.
For Board, Advocate Samuel Steel told the sentencing hearing that the high-value items had been returned to the owner. Theft at work was different to theft from employer. It was not a sophisticated offence and while his client had an unenviable record there was nothing in the past 30 years. He had lost his job as a result of these offences.
Judge Graeme McKerrell said the defendant had been clearly guilty as he would have known that there was a chance the items had not been discarded on purpose. He had not gone out with the intention to steal but had taken advantage of the situation. The theft had been committed in the course of employment, though he had not tried to hide what he had done from police.
Sentences of 100 hours’ community service as a direct alternative to four months in prison were imposed concurrently for each matter. He was ordered to pay £470 in compensation for the false representation he made at Ray & Scott Jewellers.
