Horncastle man stole over £3,700 from his employers

A supervisor at the cut-price chain store Poundworld stole more than £3,700 from takings he was making up for banking, a court has been told.
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Ashley Charles Steward, 25, of Clark Court, Horncastle admitted stealing £3,710 from Poundworld between April 1 and May 11, when he appeared at Boston Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Wednesday).

Prosecuting, Emma Wright said Steward was a supervisor at the Boston branch of Poundworld in the Shopping Park in Horncastle Road, and was responsible for cashing up tills and preparing the money for banking.

She said that on ‘a number of occasions’ he removed money from the takings before sealing the banking bags ready to go to the bank.

She said the deficits were investigated and it was realised that Steward was the supervisor who had been cashing up on the days the banking had a deficit.

She said the store manager approached him and found that Steward had £1,000 in cash up his sleeve and he admitted to stealing a further £2,710 in the previous few weeks.

Ms Wright said Steward admitted he had put cash up his sleeve while doing the banking out of sight of the in-store cameras, taking larger and larger sums, because he said he owed money to friends.

Mitigating, Carrie Simpson said Steward, who has no previous convictions, was ‘full of genuine remorse’ and had apologised from the outset.

She said he had been under pressure to pay money back to friends he had borrowed from and when he saw the opportunity he took it, taking larger and larger sums.

“In his own words, he got greedy,” she said, “and now has this stain on his character which will cause him difficulties with future employers”

The magistrates said it was a ‘significant breach of trust’ and ordered Steward to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work for the community and to pay £2,710 in compensation.

He was also ordered to pay £85 in court costs.