Power firm driver ordered to repay more than £160,000 in cable theft proceeds
A man who stole tens of thousands of pounds worth of power cables has been ordered to repay his employer to the tune of more than £160,000.
Mark Robinson, 58, was ordered to pay £162,541 at a proceeds of crime hearing.
Last year he was jailed for eight months, suspended for 18 months, after admitting two counts of theft by employee relating to equipment transported from sites including in Lichfield. He was also ordered to attend 10 rehabilitation activity days and to carry out 150 hours unpaid work.
On Monday Robinson was ordered to repay the ill-gotten gains at a brief hearing at Stafford Crown Court.
Robinson was employed as a lorry driver for a Western Power Distribution contractor to remove the power company's scrap metal in Lichfield when he stole 20 electricity transformers worth £17,798 between February 2016 and March 2018. He also stole 680kg of high voltage copper cable worth £3,060 belonging to the same firm in December 2017.
Robinson should have taken the items to a site to be disposed of, but instead he took them to his own yard and paid a rate through a relative's bank account.
He was caught following an anonymous tip-off and the equipment was recovered from a Derbyshire yard.
Robinson, from Leek, Staffordshire, must pay up within three months or he will be sent to prison for 12 months in default.
Under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 courts have the power to recover assets acquired from criminal activity following conviction.
