A holiday park groundsman caught red-handed with an expensive fire pit he stole from his workplace has been fined for his crime.
Staff at Ullswater Heights, close to Flusco, Penrith, began enquiries last June after reports that an iPad had gone missing.
That device was returned but it then emerged an employee — grounds maintenance worker Steven Graham, 45, had stolen a fire pit from the site in March, 2020.
“Police officers subsequently went round to the defendant’s address and they found the fire pit,” prosecutor Peter Bardsley told Carlisle magistrates’ court today.
Mr Bardsley produced a photograph of the recovered item, complete with its protective cover.
“He was subsequently interviewed. He said he had been working at Ullswater Heights since 2019 doing grounds maintenance and grass-cutting,” said the prosecutor.
“He admitted taking the fire pit without permission.”
Graham, of Adelphi Terrace, Carlisle, admitted a charge of theft by employee, from Leisure Resorts Limited, of an item valued at £728. “I took it. I took it without asking,” he had told police.
Graham understood the fire pit was one of several which would no longer be needed at the site, and was due to have been thrown in a skip.
“The mistake I made was that I never went to the bosses and asked,” Graham had admitted.
His solicitor, Chris Toms, told the court: “He was told they were going to be disposed of. He took it upon himself to take one. He did not think it would be missed.”
Graham’s employment at Ullswater Heights had been terminated. He had since found a new job as a groundsman.
Magistrates fined Graham £288, and he must pay a surcharge and costs totalling £119.
