Asda workers steal £6,000 booze from Black Country supermarket

Home delivery driver Kalwant Dosanjh and aged 43, and 44-year-oldfork lift truck driver, Sukhdeep Purewal, carried out the ruse at Asda Great Bridge seven times during 2016.

They nabbed drink including bottles of Bacardi, Famous Grouse whisky and cans of Carling lager estimated to have a total value of between £5,000 and £6,000.

The two appeared before magistrates in Walsall on Thursday and admitted charges of theft by an employee.

Mr Kulbir Paul, prosecuting, said the two would steal the booze on Sundays as 43-year-old Dosanjh was finishing his early shift and Purewal, aged 44, was beginning his late shift at the shop.

Explaining the pair's method, he added: "Purewal would phone Dosanjh to arrive at the back of the store and would open the gate for him.

"Dosanjh would reverse the vehicle inside and they would then load it with alcohol.

The thefts were brought to an end after staff at the store noticed a discrepancy when doing a stock check of beers and wines.

They were caught in the act on December 11 when 11 cases of alcohol, worth £1,170, were discovered in Dosanjh's car.

The pair were arrested and police then searched their homes where they discovered further beer, vodka and whisky.

At Purewal's home in Priory Drive, Oldbury, officers also found £1,540 in cash of which he admitted half had been acquired through the sale of alcohol stolen from Asda.

It was at the home of Dosanjh, in Viaduct Drive, Dunstall, Wolverhampton, that cans of Carling and four cases of Bacardi rum were found.

Mr Paul added bosses at Asda had estimated the total value of goods stolen by the pair to be between £5,000 and £6,000.

After hearing the facts of the case, the magistrates decided they had insufficient sentencing powers and committed both men to Wolverhampton Crown Court where they will learn their fate on February 2.

Investigating officers will now also seek to reclaim proceeds from the pair's crimes at a later date.