AFTER originally facing an allegation that he had stolen thousands of pounds from a Warwick tyre company, an ex-employee has been sentenced for the theft of just £60.
Joseph Fisher had pleaded not guilty at Warwick Crown Court to the theft of £13,000 from Warwick Tyres, which was based in Birmingham Road, Warwick, in 2019.
But at a pre-trial hearing, prosecutor Alison Scott-Jones applied to add a second charge of the theft of a single tyre, to which Fisher pleaded guilty.
And after the charge was amended to the theft of the £60 a customer had paid for the tyre, Fisher, 27, now of Abermeurig, Lampeter, south Wales, was given a one-year conditional discharge.
Miss Scott-Jones said in 2019 Fisher was employed by Nicola Duffy, who owned Warwick Tyres.
On February 22 that year a friend of hers went to buy a tyre which was sold to her by Fisher, who did not offer her a receipt for the £60 cost.
And when Ms Duffy checked, she found the sale had not been entered and the money had not been paid in.
She contacted the police, and when Fisher was arrested he admitted he had taken the £60, added Miss Scott-Jones.
Carl Templar-Vasey, defending, said that, given Fisher’s previous good character and his admission at the police station, it was unlikely he would have received more than a caution – but for the allegation he had stolen a much larger amount.
And Judge Peter Cooke, who entered a formal not guilty verdict on the more serious charge, agreed.
Judge Cooke imposed the conditional discharge and ordered Fisher to pay £85 costs.
