GREEN:THIEF STOLE GOODS FROM WAREHOUSE TO MAKE THOUSANDS ON EBAY

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A thief who looted tens of thousands of pounds worth of high-tech parts from the warehouse where he worked then sold them on eBay is facing jail.

Peter Green, 38, was a mechanic contracted to repair forklift trucks at a warehouse belonging to the Wholesale Fittings company in Dagenham when he started pilfering the parts.

The company estimated Green took £200,000 worth of state-of-the-art Lutron lighting controllers in a spree that lasted nearly two years, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.

Green admitted theft today but disputes the dates of the crime and exactly how many of the sophisticated devices he took.

The prosecution say Green made £22,000 from selling the Lutron units through his eBay account but there will be another hearing to decide the amount before the mechanic is sentenced.

The court heard how an inside man helped him pilfer the stock but Green has refused to name his accomplice.

Leo Pilkington, prosecuting, said: ‘The defendant was subcontracted to Wholesale Fittings as a mechanic who repaired forklift trucks.

‘Whilst in that capacity he attended Wholesale Fittings’ warehouse on a number of occasions and on a regular basis.

‘Wholesale Fittings is a very large warehouse selling high-value computer equipment including items called Lutrons.’

The supplier in Rainham Road South, Dagenham, is one of only two companies that stocks the part, said Mr Pilkington.

‘The company noticed that a very large number of items of stock, some £200,000 worth in the eight months before October 2006, had gone missing.

‘The defendant had used an eBay account in the name of Peter Green to sell a very large quantity of the items, possibly £22,000 worth.’

The stolen parts had been kept in a secure area of the warehouse that Green would not have been able to access, said Mr Pilkington.

‘The person responsible for releasing items from the secure zone has not been identified.

‘What the defendant admits is that over some six, seven or eight months before his arrest in October 2006, he had been stealing items from the warehouse and selling them through his eBay account, selling them at very much less than their cost value.’

The Crown say the thefts began in January 2005 and there will be a hearing on May 24 to decide the issue.

Judge Patrick O’Mahoney told Green: ‘What you did was thoroughly dishonest. The court needs to know as far as it can be said, quite how much you have stolen.’

The defendant remains on conditional bail until the hearing.

Green, of (70) Birch Crescent, Ardleigh Green, Hornchurch, Essex, admitted one count of theft.
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