Sat-nay uncovers driver's deception
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A TRUCK DRIVER who hatched a plot with thieves to steal his £15,000 load of chocolate has been jailed for a year.
Kevin Ormerod, of Middlegreen, Ashton-under Lyne, pleaded guilty to theft at Bolton Crown Court.
However, he initially claimed that two masked men in a car had forced him to pull over after he left the James Nuttall depot at Rochdale. He said they threatened his family and forced him to drive to an industrial estate in Birmingham to dump his load.
The truth was revealed when his truck's sat-nay system was found to have logged only one stop — at the industrial estate. Ormerod later admitted the deception to police but claimed that two men he had met in a pub the night before forced him to go through with it. The trailer,which had contained 26 pallets of Cadbury chocolate, was found empty two weeks later. The stolen chocolate was never recovered.
Appearing for Ormerod, Zoe Nield said he was ashamed and remorseful over his involvement in the robbery.
Passing sentence, Recorder Andrew Nuttall said it had been a well thought-out and planned theft. The vague claims by Omerod that he had been threatened lacked credibility. He had assisted in stealing from his employers and had sought to diminish his involvement by the story he had told.
Operators put a great deal of trust in their employees and were entitled to do so, he added.The fact that the hijack story was false was inevitably going to be discovered.