Corby lorry driver stole John Lewis electricals worth £35,000 to pay drug debt

A Corby delivery driver agreed to hand over a high-value pallet of Phillip electronics destined for John Lewis to men he owed money for a cocaine debt.

Armer was snared when the items were eventually tracked down to an eBay account connected to his associates.

Ray Armer, 32, had been dismissed from a previous job when he started working for M&J International. a small haulage company in Davey Road, Corby at the end of 2017.

On March 16, 2018, when he had been working for M&J for six months, he went to pick up two pallets of electrical items from another Corby company, Huisman International.

Both pallets were loaded on to his lorry to be taken to Milton Keynes - one to Jonn Lewis and another to Tesco.

He appeared at Northampton Crown Court on Thursday (July 23) after pleading guilty to one count of theft from Huisman International on the Willowbrook Industrial Estate.

Her Honour Judge Rebecca Crane heard how Armer was supposed to deliver the first pallet of goods to John Lewis at 8am and the second to Tesco at 11.30am. Although the Tesco delivery was made, he had not turned up at John Lewis.

Prosecuting, Mark Knowles, said that the father-of-two’s tachograph showed he had not arrived in MK until 9.30am. He initially claimed that the delivery had been successful and that it must have been an administrative error.

But Mr Knowles added: “The investigation showed that the items and equipment were being advertised on eBay.”

A subsequent analysis of the defendant’s work phone showed he’d colluded with those who were selling the items.

Armer, who admitted to having an unaffordable cocaine habit, had agreed to park up in a lay-by and allow other people to take the stock. In return, some of his drug debt would be wiped-out.

In mitigation, the court was told Armer had lost his father during lockdown and he had been placed on furlough although he was now back at work and was free of his narcotic habit.

His barrister, James Smith-Wilds said: “The pre-sentence report paints a very, very positive picture into how he’s moved on from the action and activities of March 2018.

The court heard that Armer had kept hold of a fuel card from the previous job he’d been dismissed from and spent £1,253 on diesel after the sacking. He was prosecuted for that offence and received a community order, which he had failed to complete.

Judge Crane handed him an 18 month community order and ordered him to complete a 28-day rehabilitation requirement as well as 120 hours of unpaid work.