FIRM LAID OFF WORKER AFTER EX-CON STOLE £23K PHONES
IT firm gave him chance after jail release
BUSINESSMAN Wayne Grocott has been jailed after he stole £23,000 worth of mobile phones from his employer.
The 25-year-old worked for a Longton-based company which offers IT support to schools after his release from prison in 2018.
His role was to develop computer programs and help to build the company’s website.
But after just three months he stole 86 mobile phones while the owner was on holiday. Now Grocott has been jailed for 18 months at Stoke-on-trent Crown Court.
Prosecutor Nick Tatlow said the business owner bought £23,000 worth of phones in August 2018. He went on holiday on August 17, and when he returned on September 3, other staff members found empty boxes which the 86 phones had been stored in.
Mr Tatlow said: “It was noted the defendant’s behaviour became suspicious and he offered to take out trash, including the two boxes which contained the phones.
“CCTV showed he had come into the building on August 25, when it was locked over the Bank Holiday weekend.”
Grocott was invited to a meeting with his employers on September 4. He was tearful through the meeting. He was suspended.
Three days later he contacted the firm to say he wanted to talk. He offered them £6,000 in cash and asked that the police were not contacted.
But on September 10 he said the company could not prove he had stolen the phones, and the police were contacted. He was arrested on September 13.
Police discovered some phones had been sold at an internet cafe in Cobridge.
In his police interview, Grocott said he had been into work on August
25 to print some tickets, and denied stealing the phones. He laid the blame at the hands of the company by saying it was an insurance scam.
In a victim statement, the company owner said the theft affected the business and they had to make an employee redundant.
Grocott, of High Street, Talke, pleaded guilty to theft.
Paul Cliff, mitigating, said the defendant now employs 10 people full-time, and another 40 agency staff work for his recruitment company.
He said Grocott accepts he made an ‘unpleasant allegation’. Mr Cliff said: “He found the previous custodial sentence very difficult and there was a degree of panic on his part.”
Mr Cliff asked for any sentence to be suspended. But Judge Paul Glenn said the offence was so serious it had to be marked with an immediate jail sentence.
He told Grocott: “For a relatively small firm, £23,000 was a lot of money, so much so an employee was made redundant as a result.
“You speak of running a recruitment company. You source work and others are, on occasions, asked to do that work on zero hours contracts. You are capable of hard work. It is a pity you let yourself down in the way you do.” The judge ordered the £6,000 to be given to the company as compensation. He made no other financial orders, but added the company could decide to take civil action against Grocott.