Two Salisbury Range employees sentenced for stealing goods
The pair took thousands of pounds worth over a nine month period
Two people, who are former employees of The Range in Salisbury, have been sentenced for stealing thousands of pounds worth of goods from the store.
34 year old Liam Snook, from Blackfriars Way and 34 year old Sarah Brooks from Coronation Road in Durrington, worked together at the Southampton Road branch.
They've appeared before Salisbury Magistrates Court this week (Monday 7th April), charged with a total of 74 thefts, carried out over nine months from May 2023 to January 2024.
The items taken are estimated to be worth more than £8,000.
Snook has been sentenced to nine months imprisonment, suspended for two years, and 150 hours of unpaid work.
Brooks received a community order to complete 167 hours of unpaid work within the next 12 months.
Both defendants must also pay compensation of £2,866 each.
How did they do it?
Snook would occasionally steal stock on his own, but the majority of the thefts occurred when the pair were working together.
Snook worked as a sales manager and Brooks was a shop assistant, lift-sharing on days they were both working.
Upon her arrest, Brooks explained that during one drive, they had a conversation about how easy it would be to steal from the shop.
From then onward, Brooks would steal every Monday and Thursday throughout her shift and just before Snook had closed up.
They'd both go back inside the shop once the other employees had left in order to steal.
A diligent new employee discovered the pair's criminality as Snook would let all the staff leave then re-enter the shop alone without reason, which breached the company's policy against locking up the store alone.
The same situation occurred if Brooks was working except they'd both re-enter the shop, or Brooks would wait for Snook outside.
The pair's employment was suspended in January 2024 - the day after they were caught in the act by The Range's area loss prevention manager.
Some of the losses were recovered through deductions in their final paychecks.
Local Crime Investigator Ange Dowsett said: "This was a calculated, high-value series of thefts during which Snook and Brooks abused their trusted positions as employees to steal thousands of pounds worth of goods.
"Their criminality was motivated, lengthy and without remorse and the CCTV footage shows a jubilant, planned mood when the pair were carrying out the theft.
"I would like to thank the reporting employee whose critical thinking and diligence led to the prosecution of these two offenders."