Ex-Army sgt stole milk worth £11,500
AN ARMY sergeant who quit to provide a better deal for his wife and child stole milk worth more than £11,500 from his new bosses, a court was told on Tuesday.
Magistrates at Harrogate heard how Stephen Robert Lord, whose wife is still a serving soldier, got a job as a delivery driver with a dairy company 14 months ago.
And between January 18 and February 9, 30-year-old Lord stole milk worth 11,520 from Paynes Dairies, of Bar Lane, Roecliffe, near Boroughbridge.
When Lord, of Lys Crescent, Catterick Garrison, pleaded guilty to theft, prosecutor Kathryn Reeve said over the weeks he had piled 144 extra trolleys of milk, each worth 80, on to his delivery wagon and sold them to a customer on his round.
Breach of trust
Miss Reeve said an application under the 2002 Proceeds of Crime Act meant the case had to be sent to York Crown Court for sentence and defence solicitor Andrew Tinning accepted the ruling.
But, he said, the magistrates had to determine whether or not, if the application had not been made, they would still have sent the case to the higher court for a more substantial punishment than the six months behind bars at their disposal.
Mr Tinning conceded that given the level of breach of trust involved in the crime, crown court sentence was likely.
He said Lord had left the Army with the rank of sergeant because he had been away so much and so that his young daughter would have at least one parent around to care for her.
Foolishly
His new job had involved a substantial cut in salary and the family found it hard to make ends meet.
He had received hints from one of his customers, who had a supermarket, that perhaps he could provide milk without payment and eventually, rather foolishly, he went along with the suggestion.
He had made only a small amount from the deal and had lost his job as a result. ''He bitterly regrets what has happened. It has caused further problems for his family when his intention was to make things better for them,'' said Mr Tinning.
Court chairman Charles Bailey bailed Lord to appear at York Crown Court in the week beginning April 12 and told him that in view of the seriousness of his offence the court considered its sentencing powers to be insufficient.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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