Police worker jailed for £100k evidence store thefts

Andrew Roberts had worked in the police store at Huddersfield Police Station

A former police employee who stole £100,000 of items from an evidence store has been jailed for four years.

West Yorkshire police property manager Andrew Roberts, 55, is believed to have taken more than 200 items from Huddersfield Police Station.

Leeds Crown Court heard cash taken for safekeeping from people who had died was among things stolen by "greedy" Roberts.

He admitted seven offences of fraud by abuse of position.

Jonathan Sandiford QC, prosecuting, said Roberts was only caught in June 2017 after he gave his daughter six stolen €50 notes without knowing they were counterfeit.

Roberts took at least £120,000 but, as he was "robbing Peter to pay Paul" by replacing some amounts to cover his tracks, a "reasonable estimate" of his net gain was in excess of £100,000, Mr Sandiford said.

The offending, he said, was motivated by Robert's greed and the "hedonistic lifestyle he and his wife chose to lead".

'Staggering sum'

Mr Sandiford said £40,000 had been paid into joint bank accounts and £8,000 spent on hotels between 2011 and 2017. Roberts' gross annual salary by 2016 was just £22,374.

Among the cash Roberts stole was £5,645 which had been given to officers for safekeeping after they were called to the home of an elderly woman who later died.

Cash belonging to a man who died on a footpath in the town was also stolen.

Judge Geoffrey Marson QC, sentencing, said the total of the thefts was "a staggering sum".

"The primary motive was greed, to maintain the lifestyle that, notwithstanding your legitimate income, went beyond your means," he said.

He said he believed Roberts would have continued stealing if it were not for the mistake he made over the counterfeit notes.

The judge said the defendant's actions had also affected the integrity of the criminal justice system, with at least two cases being abandoned after evidence was contaminated by Roberts.

Nick Johnson QC, defending, said his client was only motivated by greed and there was no evidence of a lavish lifestyle.

He added the defendant was suffering from dependent personality disorder, which limited his ability to exercise self-control.

Speaking after sentencing, Det Ch Supt Simon Bottomley said Roberts, of Lepton, Huddersfield, had abused the position of trust he had occupied.

"Roberts is an embarrassment to the force and there is no excuse for what he did," he said.

"The vast majority of people who work for West Yorkshire Police are honest and work with an extremely high degree of integrity. He is very much in the minority."