Security guard at airport stole Rolex watch to pay off debts
SHE SOLD £6K TIMEPIECE FOR £1K
AN East Midlands Airport security guard stole a passenger’s £6,000 Rolex watch and sold it to Cash Converters.
Jodie Derrie claimed she had found the watch under her seat on a bus home after a late shift at East Midlands Airport in Castle Donington.
But instead of handing it in, the 39-year-old kept it before selling it for £1,000 a few days later.
Sentencing her, magistrate Beverley Cemmel said: “The value of the watch is significant and this was a breach of trust.
“If someone loses something at an airport they naturally expect a member of security staff to hand it in.
eicester Magistrates’ Court was told how the watch had gone missing on March 6 after its owner forgot to pick it up after going through a metal detector before a flight.
The victim only realised what had happened when she was in the air but by that time staff at the airport had found the watch.
They put it in their lost property box before moving it to a secure storage area when they realised its value, the court was told.
Derrie, of Loughborough, returned to work the following Monday, completed her shift and boarded the Skylink shuttle bus to travel home to Loughborough.
She says she found the watch in a brown-padded envelope under her seat during her journey. Derrie took the Rolex to her home in Peel Drive and later visited a branch of Cash Converters.
The shop initially offered her £2,000 for it but, having had it sent away for examination, later reduced their offer to £1,000.
An inquiry was launched and Derrie was tracked down because she used her real name and address in her dealings with Cash Converters. Derrie, who has worked on the security team at the airport for three years, pleaded guilty to one count of theft.
Debbie Hubbard, mitigating, said: “She accepts she should have handed it to the bus driver and not taken it home and later sold it to Cash Converters.
“It’s a breach of trust, but not a sophisticated one – she sold it in her name and gave her address. Cash Converters did not give her money immediately. They took it from her and sent it away.
“Initially they said they would give her £2,000, but when it came back they gave her £1,000.
“She was struggling for money. She is a single woman on a low income. She tells me that when she took the watch she had just paid her rent from her overdraft and was worried because she was living on borrowed money.
“She is not suspended, she has been working throughout this. She has an interview, a disciplinary hearing, and because she has admitted this it is inevitable she will lose her employment.”
Derrie was ordered to pay £4,000 compensation to the victim and to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work.