A trusted security van crew who stole almost £52,000 after it was mistakenly left in their vehicle by two colleagues the night before have each been given suspended prison sentences.
A judge heard today how Martin Pickles, 55, and his 47-year-old colleague Boyd Neal gave in to temptation after they discovered that three cassettes containing £51,980 had been left in the G4S van when they started their shift.
But the duo, who had both been employed by the security firm for several years, later panicked when an investigation was launched into the missing money and police officers were able to recover almost all of the cash within days.
Bradford Crown Court heard how the pair, who had both lost their jobs with the firm, had spent a fraction of the money, but that had since been recouped from their outstanding wages.
The inquiry into the missing money was launched in September and an examination of the tracker device on the van and CCTV footage at the firm’s premises led to Pickles and Neal being confronted.
The pair both admitted stealing the money and told investigators where they had put their share of the cash.
Pickles, of Heckmondwike Road, Dewsbury, and Neal, of Wilson Road, Wyke, pleaded guilty to stealing the money from their employer and were sentenced to 20 months in prison suspended for two years.
Judge Colin Burn said the pair would each have to do 275 hours unpaid work for the community and they would also be “tagged” as part of an electronically-monitored home curfew between 8pm and 6am for the next four months.
Barrister Imran Khan, for the two men, said they had paid a heavy price for their “idiotic actions” and they had acted very much on impulse.
Judge Burn said he was really none the wiser as what on earth had come over the two men that day.
“Knowing what you both must have known about the way your company operated it seems incredible that you could have seriously believed that you would have to away with it,” said Judge Burn.
