AN EMPLOYEE at a Warndon supermarket stole almost £2,000 worth of electronic equipment from the store after things in his life ‘got on top of him’, a court heard.
Christopher Taylor, of Carlisle Road in Worcester, admitting taking five Samsung Galaxy tablets from Tesco on Mill Wood Drive when he appeared at Worcester Magistrates Court last Friday (January 16).
The 30-year-old has worked at the retail giant for about 12 years and is a team leader in the warehouse but stole the items, valued at £1,750, from between May 7 and October 31 last year.
A stock take was taken in August which found six of the tablets were missing but the loss was written off and more were brought in the following week to replace them, the court was told.
CCTV was then installed in the area where they were being kept and it showed Taylor, who quit his job after the incident, taking the devices.
Defending solicitor Julia Powell said: “He has lost his previous good character as a result of his foolish actions.
“He can’t really explain why as a gentleman of previous good character he has become involved in a very serious offence.
“He doesn’t even recall what he did with the money, he said he didn’t spend it on anything lavish or do anything nice with it.”
Taylor, who now works as a labourer, was ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work as part of a 12-month community order and told to pay compensation of £1,750.
District Judge Nigel Cadbury said: “It is a strange one that some one of your type and no convictions at all would commit for a first offence a very serious one.
“That is a clear breach of trust that your employers have put in you from stealing products from them. It wasn’t very long ago that this offence would have resulted in immediate custody.”
Taylor also had to pay a £60 victim surcharge.
