Suspended sentence for delivery driver who stole wrench

Andrew Williams, of Northop Road in Flint, appeared at Mold Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The 50-year-old admitted that on September 3 last year, he stole a £1,452 shear wrench belonging to Delsol in Sandycroft.

Rhian Jackson, prosecuting, told the court that at the time of the offence, Williams was an agency driver whose role was to collect and deliver parcels on behalf of Delsol.

A staff member was made aware on September 9 that a parcel containing a shear wrench had not been delivered to a firm in Oxfordshire, despite it having been logged as such.

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When the matter was investigated, the documentation showed the item had been loaded onto Williams' van and CCTV footage at the Sandycroft depot showed him apparently concealing a parcel behind a wheel arch in the van.

He initially denied stealing the wrench, claiming he liked his job and had no reason to steal.

Eventually, he admitted to the crime but the wrench was never recovered.
Melissa Griffiths, defending, told the court: "He's the first to concede he has a number of [previous] offences for dishonesty.

"Since coming out of prison two-and-a-half years ago, he has tried very hard to turn his life around.

"He's let himself down on this occasion.

"He collected this parcel and unfortunately damaged it.

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"He was worried and instead of going to them and making a disclosure, he foolishly secreted the wrench and disposed of it.

"He accepts he wasn't frank about that at interview, but he panicked."

District Judge Gwyn Jones handed down a custodial sentence of 18 weeks, but suspended it for 12 months.

The defendant must undertake 180 hours of unpaid work, as well as paying costs of £85 and £1,452 in compensation.

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