Bradford Council worker sentenced for metal theft (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Wibsey man Gary White in court after tip-off from member of public

7:40am Sunday 5th June 2011 in Wibsey By Hannah Baker

A Bradford Council employee has been ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work after he admitted stealing municipal cast iron grates and selling them on for scrap.

Gary White, 40, of Wibsey Park Avenue, Wibsey, also received a 12-month supervision order when he appeared before magistrates in the city yesterday.

The Court heard around 15 grates had been taken to a metal recycling centre to be sold as scrap between April 12 and May 17 this year.

Crown Prosecution Service solicitor Marina Hunter said a member of the public had tipped off another Council worker after metal grates were seen being unloaded from one of the authority’s vehicles at the recycling centre.

The registration number of the vehicle had been taken and an investigation was carried out by the authority, the court heard.

Cast iron grates in parts of the city where White had been working had been replaced with rubber grates, a supply of which could be found in a yard belonging to the Council, magistrates were told.

Miss Hunter said it was difficult to ascertain the value of the cast iron grates but they would have been worth around £300 each new.

The recycling centre, which had paid £390 in total for the grates, had returned some of them to the Council, she said.

Mitigating for White, solicitor Steven Brocklehurst said his client had nothing to do with the replacement of the grates in the road.

The grates taken to the recycling centre had been found in a skip in the yard and White had wrongly thought they were to be thrown away, he said.

White, who was also ordered to pay £85 towards the costs of the case and £200 in compensation to the Council, had been an employee since 2007, prior to which he had worked for the authority for three years as part of a contract, the court heard.

He was suspended when the offence came to light and was now likely to lose his job, Mr Brocklehurst said.

Sentencing White, bench chairman Peter Creegan said while he had breached the trust of his employer, his guilty plea and genuine remorse had been taken into consideration.

Co-accused Milton Reynolds, 37, of Bellerby Brow, Buttershaw, opted for a trial at Crown Court.

He was released on unconditional bail to appear at a committal hearing at Bradford Magistrates on Friday, July 29.

• Read the full story in Saturday's T&A