Morrisons shopworker used till trick to slowly steal £80,000 over two years to fund drugs habit

A Morrisons shopworker used a till trick to steal GBP80,000 to fund his drugs habit. Employee Scott Winter used the voucher button on the till to steal cash. He then went to the toilet to hide, transferring it into his wallet.

He did this at the store in Coleshill for two years before he was eventually caught red-handed. Warwickshire Police say that the 49-year-old had raised suspicions for repeated and excessive use of the voucher button on the till at the Park Road-based store. A loss prevention manager was called in to observe Winter over CCTV and spotted him removing cash from the tills and putting it into his pocket, before visiting the toilet.

On the day he was caught, Winter was intercepted on the way out of the toilet before being taken to an internal holding room. When quizzed by store security, Winter admitted to stealing money from the store. He explained he he stole money using a tender swap process.

Winter said he went each till on the shopfloor before pressing the coupon button and entering the amount he wanted to take from the till, usually around GBP150. He admitted that he would then put the money into his wallet while in the toilets and out of view. On the day he was caught, Winter had approximately GBP400 on him from this process.

Having delved through CCTV footage, it was confirmed that he had been doing this on regular basis. In fact, the thefts had started at the same time he started at the store in August of 2021 and the store believes he stole around GBP80,000 in cash before he was finally caught on June 9 2023. Warwickshire Police [2] said that Winter was initially shocked by this amount.

Yet he said that he was taking the cash to pay bills, debts, and to fund a crack and cannabis drug habit, which was costing him several hundred pounds a day.

'Pocketed tens of thousands of pounds'

Winter, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced in Warwick [3] Crown Court on 6 December to 14 months in prison for theft by employee. PC Stephen Taylor of North Warwickshire [4] SNT said: "Winter knew what he was doing was wrong, and in fact he admitted to it readily, but that didn't stop him from pocketing tens of thousands of pounds before getting caught. "If it hadn't been for robust processes and vigilant shop staff at the supermarket, he might never have been caught at all.

The steel grip of illicit drugs like crack cocaine on people's lives, pushing them towards criminality, is more than visible here.

"Winter has received 14 months to consider what route he wants to take for his life in future, and we hope that he finds the help he needs to get clean and be better."

References

^ Audi A3 flees scene after crash with Land Rover Defender in Nuneaton (www.coventrytelegraph.net)
^ Warwickshire Police (www.coventrytelegraph.net)
^ Warwick (www.coventrytelegraph.net)
^ Warwickshire (www.coventrytelegraph.net)
^ here (data.reachplc.com)
^ Coventry (www.coventrytelegraph.net)