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Asda warehouse worker steals £134,000 of goods
AN 'Aladdin's Cave' of stolen property worth thousands of pound was uncovered by West Yorkshire Police when they raided the home of an Asda warehouse worker.
A court heard how up to 134,000 worth of goods may have been stolen in a scam which involved the theft of items including flat screen televisions, DVD players and cigarettes from the supermarket chain's distribution depot in Normanton.
John Flanagan, 49, a former miners' union leader and working men's club secretary, was jailed yesterday for 18-months after pleading guilty to a string of thefts which were then turned to profit by being sold to his local community.
Co-worker Michael Rothera, 39, of Norton Towers, Halifax, was also jailed for six months after hearing how he delivered stolen goods in his work's van from the depot to Flanagan's home nearby.
Flanagan's wife, Ann, also 49, escaped prison but was ordered to carry out 100 hours unpaid work for possession of criminal property.
A judge dismissed her claims that she did not know anything about the criminal activity going on under her roof.
David Dixon, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court how John Flanagan held a 30,000-a-year job with Asda working as a 'shunter', a job which involved moving trailers around the depot yard.
In March last year a security guard was given information that items were being stolen and secret cameras were installed in a bid to catch the culprits.
On May 5 Flanagan and Rothera, who worked as a tyre fitter on the company's fleet of lorries, were seen removing a crate of soft drinks and 18 DVD and TV machines from an Asda trailer putting them onto Rothera's vehicle.
They were later caught on CCTV taking a Sony flat screen TV worth 800.
Police were called and a search was made of Flagahan's on Snydale Grove, Normanton.
A host items were found to be stolen after security staff were able to prove from bar codes that they had been delivered to the Normanton depot but should then have been transferred on to stores around the country.
Hundreds of cartons of cigarettes, CDs, DVDs, blue tooth mobile phone headsets and even boxes of toothpaste were scattered across the house and even on the hallway floor.
Over 9000 in 20 notes was found in the bedroom.
A tracker device fitted to Rothera's van showed he had driven his vehicle to Flanagan's home within ten minutes of leaving the depot on May 5.
John Flanagan pleaded guilty to seven charges of theft and two of possession criminal property. Rothera pleaded guilty to two charges of theft and Ann Flanagan pleaded guilty to possession of criminal property.
Many stolen items had been sold to people in the local community in Normanton.
It was estimated that the thefts had taken place over a 12 month period.
Simon Reevell, for John Flanagan, said he had been a well respected member of the community before his arrest.
He had spent many years working locally as a miner and had been a union rep as well as secretary of Sharlston Working Men's Club.
Matthew Harding, for Ann Flanagan, said her arrest had caused her a lot of shame and embarrassment as she worked as doctor's receptionist and was active within the local community.
He said the publicity the case had attracted had meant she now avoided going into Normanton town centre because of the way she may be viewed by other people.
Judge James Stewart said: "The stuff you were stealing was taken back to your house for sale to the community who must have realised what was going on.
"The fact that the dishonestly only came to light because of Asda's inquiries reflects badly on those who bought from you. Dishonesty in the community is despicable and those who bought from you should feel guilty in themselves."
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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