Leeds NHS worker who stole dozens of mobile phones from former employer and sold them on ebay for more than £14,500 is sentenced at Leeds Crown Court

An NHS worker who stole mobile phones and ipads worth more than £14,500 from his former employer before selling  them on ebay has been handed a suspended prison sentence.
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Father-of-three Shamsul Gani stole 49 electronic devices from his ex-employer DePuy over a five year period from 2012 to 2017, Leeds Crown Court was told.

The court was told 44-year-old Gani, of The Links Beeston, stole the phones because he was upset after claiming promises made about pay and a bonus were not kept.

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Paul Nicholson, prosecuting, said Gani was employed by DePuy - a subsiduary of Johnson and Johnson - in various roles between March 2008 and September 2017.

Leeds Crown CourtLeeds Crown Court
Leeds Crown Court

The court heard he was a customer adviser at first and went on to work in sales support before becoming a salesforce effectiveness co-ordinator.

Mr Nicholson said Gani was initially responsible for issuing mobile phones to employees at DePuy's Leeds office and for managing contracts with Vodafone.

Another DePuy worker took over responsibility for mobile phones in 2016, but Gani continued to deal with Vodafone and ask for phones and ipads handed back by employees to be unlocked.

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Gani resigned from the company in October 2017 and currently works for the NHS as a programme officer in an education team involved in Covid-19 projects.

It was later discovered Gani had been selling mobile phones and ipads belomgiong to DePuy on ebay and had made a total of £14,613.

Gani also had mobile phones exchanged and repaired in unauthorised transactions costing a total of £3,725 at KRCS, a company used by DePuy.

Gani admitted theft and conversion of criminal property.

Probation officer Mick Berry said Gani has a "deep sense of regret and remorse" and had suffered from mental health problems.

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Martin Morrow, mitigating, said a promise had been made that Gani would be paid a certain amount for his role in sales support at DePuy, but that promise was not kept.

Mr Morrow said Gani had also been offered a ten per cent commission, which did not materialise.

Mr Morrow said: "In the eyes of the defendant there were broken promises. This clearly upset the defendant."

Mr Morrow said Gani did not spend the cash he received from selling the phones.

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He said Gani has £18,000 in a bank account and is prepared to pay the company back.

Judge Simon Phillips QC handed Gani a ten month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months and ordered him to do 100 hours unpaid work.

Judge Phillips ordered Gani to pay DePuy £18,338 in compensation by October 1.

Judge Phillips told Gani: "You had no identifiable reason to steal from your employer. It appears that you engaged in this dishonesty because you could."

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Thank you

Laura Collins