Trumpington Waitrose Worker Stole Thousands

A Waitrose employee who stole more than £12,000 from the company has been sentenced.

Almas Ahmed, 21, had been working on the checkouts at the store in Hauxton Road, Trumpington, for three years when he first came to the attention of police.

Between February and April Ahmed fraudulently placed £12,150 onto John Lewis gift cards, which he then went on to use to buy electrical goods and high-end clothing online.

An internal investigation was launched when Waitrose noticed large sums of money missing, as well as further suspicions being raised by another member of staff whose ID card had been used while they were off work.

The investigation revealed Ahmed had a large number of recent orders and even more outstanding.

He was arrested on 17 April and, following a search of his home, all the items bought using the fraudulent cards were recovered.

CCTV footage of Ahmed topping up gift cards with no customers around were also uncovered.

Ahmed, of Renard Way, Trumpington, was handed 20 weeks in prison at Cambridge Crown Court, suspended for 12 months, after pleading guilty to theft by employee at an earlier hearing.

He was also ordered to pay £350 in costs and complete 120 hours of unpaid work.

PC Ben Suckling said: “Ahmed abused his position for his own benefit and thought he was going under the radar.

“He stole a staggering amount of money over the course of just two months, thinking nothing of it.”