Walsall Argos worker jailed for £22,000 mobile phones scam

Twenty-four-year-old Connor Lloyd fiddled the system to take high-value mobile phones, which he sold in a desperate bid to get out of debt after living beyond his means, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

He got away with the racket for a year until colleagues at the branch in Walsall noticed an expensive mobile phone was not where it should have been in March this year and discovered it had been moved to a different collection point by the defendant, said Mr Richard Franck, prosecuting.

Lloyd had been using the computer log-in of another member of staff who was not even working in the same department to pull off the scam that had enabled him to take stolen phones home in his bag at the end of the business day without them being missed, said Mr Franck, who added: “This type of theft has a significant effect on a business.”

An internal investigation disclosed that Lloyd had stolen goods worth a total value of £22,317 over a 12-month period, the court was told.

Lloyd immediately admitted the offence and said he had made up to £10,000 by selling the haul.

Persistence

“He had stupidly been living beyond his means and wanted to pay off his debts but was not living a champagne lifestyle,” said Mr Ranjit Sandhu, defending.

“He had been employed by Argos for three-and-a-half years during which time he had worked his way up from the shop floor to a position where he was in charge of six or seven staff,” he said.

Lloyd, of Dorset Road, Wednesbury, who was of previous good character, pleaded guilty to theft by an employee and was sent to prison by Judge Michael Challinor.

The judge told him: “You were in a position of trust. This was not a highly sophisticated crime but there was a great deal of persistence as you drained Argos of that money over a long time.

“There must be an element of deterrence and punishment in this type of case.

“People must understand that if they are in a position of trust and break that trust they will face a custodial sentence.”