Employee secretly sold £20k of tech
DAD STOLE WORK PHONES AND IPADS BECAUSE ‘IT WAS TOO EASY NOT TO’
A TRUSTED employee who sold mobile phones and iPads belonging to his company because “it was too easy not to” left a “Hansel and Gretel-type trail” on eBay.
Paul Kershaw worked for the Newcastle branch of international infrastructure firm, Balfour Beatty, and his job involved sending workers phones, sim cards and iPads.
Kershaw said there were stockpiles of devices kept in cupboards and that the company did not know what was there.
When he hit financial difficulties, he gave in to temptation and started taking and selling items on eBay.
The scam came to light when someone who bought an iPad contacted Balfour Beatty to complain that the device kept displaying contact details for the firm’s service desk.
By the time Kershaw’s criminal activities were discovered, he had sold more than £20,000 of equipment, pocketing more than £14,000.
Now the 40-year-old, of Thirlmere Court, Hebburn, South Tyneside, has been given a suspended prison sentence at Newcastle Crown Court after he admitted fraud by abuse of position.
The court heard Kershaw worked for Balfour Beatty as a “request fulfilment analyst” from 2013.
In November 2018, the firm received the complaint about the iPad, which sparked a probe.
Joe Hedworth, prosecuting, said it was discovered the tablet had been sold via Kershaw’s eBay account.
Mr Hedworth said: “There were a large number of similar items which belonged to Balfour Beatty being sold through the defendant’s account.”
Kershaw was interviewed about it by the firm and after an initial denial, he admitted taking company property and selling it.
Mr Hedworth told the court: “He admitted stealing phones and iPads because ‘it was too easy not to’.
“He said because no-one knew what assets they had and didn’t have, nobody noticed when the things were going missing.
“He said he carried out the enterprise from the office rather than home so his wife didn’t find out what he was doing.”
The total value of the items taken was £20,808 and he sold them for £14,360.
The fraud happened between May 2017 and November 2018 and there was a six-week period when he did not offend, while another employee was under investigation for allegedly selling items.
Kershaw gave a prepared statement to police saying he was extremely remorseful and wished to recompense the company.
He said he was short of money because his wife went on maternity leave and he had become accustomed to overtime during a project to migrate the firm’s devices from EE to O2.
Kershaw added that he felt under pressure to maintain the level of support his children had been used to and didn’t want to let them down.
He said: “I was feeling under increasing pressure from all sides and didn’t know where to turn.
“There were two or three large cupboards with 200 to 300 devices in each and nobody knew what was in the cupboards.
“I sold the odd device and the more I did it, the easier it became. The money was used for everyday items and I’ve nothing to show from the sales.
“It spiralled out of control and I struggled to stop it. It caused me anxiety and it was a relief when I got caught.
“I came clean to the company when asked and provided them with the log-in details to my eBay account to not hide anything.
“I was stunned the value was £20,000 and that I had accrued £14,000 from selling them.”
He added that he had enjoyed his job at Balfour Beatty and would “happily” compensate them if he could but Mr Hedworth said there was no application for compensation on behalf of the prosecution.
In a business impact statement,
the company said the offending had a “wide impact” on the Newcastle office, had affected morale and that staff feel let down by Kershaw’s actions.
Recorder Simon Kealey QC sentenced Kershaw to 20 months suspended for 18 months with 180 hours’ unpaid work and £650 costs.
The judge told him: “This was serious criminal offending.”
Mark Friend, defending, said: “The eBay account led to a Hansel and Gretel-type trail back to the defendant.
“He is the author of his own misfortune and he accepts as much but this is a man of essentially good character and he has had this hanging over him for just shy of two years. That has had a dramatic effect on him and his family.
“The offending casts him in an appalling light and he accepts as much.
“He expresses genuine remorse, shame and contrition. He made a ludicrously poor decision at a time of financial difficulties.”
Mr Friend added that Kershaw, who is working again, is a “thoroughly decent man” and a hard-working and committed father, husband and friend.