How Hermes delivery driver stole parcels worth £36,000 and sold them on eBay as ‘DelBoy2410’
Driver described as 'model courier' hid scam by making it look like other staff were to blame for missing packages
A "MODEL" delivery driver stole almost 700 parcels worth a staggering £36,000 from the company he worked for - before flogging them on eBay under the name DelBoy2410.
Hermes driver Lyndon Linton, who started with the firm in 2007 and was soon promoted to be sub-controller at weekends, would steal parcels allocated to other drivers - so when the finger was pointed it wouldn't be at him.
Shockingly some of these couriers were given the sack after being wrongly blamed for what happened.
But his crimes were exposed when a manager at the Newport depot in Wales noticed a spike in the number of claims for missing packages, reports .
Prosecutor Michael Hallett told Cardiff Crown Court yesterday that Hermes had received £18,000 worth of claims for missing items between February 2014 and August 2015.
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The court heard the defendant stole goods including vacuum cleaners, food processors, bath mats, cooking utensils, and a jar of plastic flowers.
The 58-year-old then sold the items on eBay, using his account DelBoy2410.
The prosecutor added that Linton’s niece Nadine Linton and her boyfriend Steven Bishop became “embroiled” in the conspiracy in March last year by helping to sell the items.
When cops raided Linton's house in Ringwood Place, Newport, last August they found 166 parcels including items from River Island, H&M, Arcadia and QVC.
The prosecutor said it was impossible to calculate the loss to the company but the goods recovered – which made up the eight counts of theft – were worth £9,400.
Officers then analysed the eBay accounts, along with messages between the defendants, and calculated that a total of 683 items had been stolen with an estimated value of £36,000.
Lyndon Linton admitted eight counts of theft from his employer but said his co-defendants received a third of the profits.
Between March and August 2015, Nadine Linton received £5,000 into her bank account and Bishop received £3,800 into his account.
The court heard Lyndon Linton had a previous conviction for benefit fraud.
Ruth Smith, defending, described Lyndon Linton, who started work as a baker, as a “hardworking man” and “responsible father”.
He was sentenced to 32 months in prison for one count of money laundering and eight counts of theft from his employer.
Nadine Linton, 30, from Dents Hill in Newport, admitted money laundering and was sent to prison for 12 months which was suspended for 18 months and she was ordered to obey a curfew.
Steven Bishop, 29, from Ladyhill Road in Newport, was sent to prison for a year which was suspended for 18 months and he was ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.
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