Former engineer in Scarborough spared jail after stealing £50,000 of expensive tools from employer
A former British Telecom engineer has been spared jail after he admitted stealing hundreds of tools worth more than £53,000 from his employer.
Jarryd Vasey, 37, from Scarborough, went on an epic, year-long thieving spree by placing orders for tools and equipment when he was working for BT Openreach, York Crown Court heard.
He sold at least £24,000 of the stolen tools on Facebook and eBay, said prosecutor Joseph Bell.
He was finally rumbled in September 2024 after BT bosses became aware of two “high value” drills, with his name on them, in the company’s York storage depot.
Managers duly conducted a review of all the orders made by Vasey which showed he had ordered 259 expensive tools worth £53,099.
He was called in for a meeting with management where he admitted he’d ordered the tools without authorisation “so his employers would pay for them and he could sell them on and keep the money”, added Mr Bell.
At a disciplinary hearing two weeks later, he claimed he had been handing over the tools to someone to whom he owed money.
However, when he was quizzed by police in January last year, he admitted he had sold the tools himself on Facebook and eBay and that there was no third party involved.
He told police that the real reason he stole and then sold the items was to pay off credit cards and loans, and for everyday expenses.
Vasey, of Newlands Park Crescent, Newby, was charged with theft by employee and admitted the offence.
He appeared for sentence at the Crown Court today (March 12).
Mr Bell said that Vasey had a previous conviction from 2009 for stealing a watch from a shop where he was working.
He was rumbled after brazenly “turning up at work wearing the watch”.
Vasey’s solicitor Kevin Blount said his client had got himself into “a lot of debt” after renovating his house.
“There were 101 ways he could have dealt with it, and he chose absolutely the wrong one,” added Mr Blount.
He said that Vasey was paying back his creditors, including BT Open Reach, in “small amounts”.
“I suspect he’ll be paying that for the rest of his life,” added Mr Blount.
He said that Vasey had since landed a new job with a major electricity network operator and making repayments under a voluntary repayment agreement.
Judge Simon Hickey told Vasey he had been in a “trusted position (at BT Openreach) and you used that to steal from your employers”.
However, he noted Vasey’s “full and frank” admissions to police and the “inexplicable delay” between being charged and the case reaching court.
He also cited the many glowing character references from friends and family and the fact that Vasey hadn’t reoffended since.
The judge said that for those reasons, and the fact that jailing him would have a “significant harmful impact” on Vasey’s family members, he could take the “exceptional course” of suspending the inevitable prison sentence.
The 14-month jail sentence was suspended for 18 months.
As part of that sentence, Vasey was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and complete 20 rehabilitation-activity days.