A KENDAL shop worker caught on camera as he pinched a customer’s wallet has been sentenced by a judge.
Neil Scott Tolley, 41, was working on a till at the town’s Iceland store on August 17 when a man passed through to buy items. CCTV footage played at Carlisle Crown Court showed Tolley covering a wallet which was left by the customer with carrier bags. These were placed in a bin which Tolley emptied after leaving his post. Although the customer returned to the premises in a bid to trace his wallet – which contained £20 cash and cards – it was never recovered.
Despite being shown the damning video clip, Tolley initially denied stealing the wallet but admitted theft on the day he was due to stand trial before a jury. A probation officer told Recorder Tim Hannam QC that Tolley, of Highgate, Kendal, was “ashamed of himself” for a “stupid” offence committed on the “spur of the moment offence”.
The court also heard the defendant hadn’t disclosed a criminal record comprising more than three dozen offences when he applied for work at Iceland.
He was made subject to a 12-month community order featuring 80 hours’ unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement, and must pay £20 compensation and £1,200 costs.
“The CCTV makes it blindingly obvious what you were doing,” Tolley was told by Recorder Hannam. “Stealing the wallet in that way abused the trust that Iceland had placed in you.”
