Time in prison for employee who stole £10,000 watch from Wellingborough depot

A thieving employee who helped himself to a customer's luxury £10,000 watch said he was relieved to be caught out by CCTV footage.

Robert Kantorysinski had already clocked up nine offences when he nicked the Jaeger-LeCoultre watch from the TNT depot in Sinclair Drive, Wellingborough, on May 22 last year.

His legal team pleaded the case for a suspended sentence - but His Honour Judge Rupert Mayo told the 36-year-old he would have to serve time in prison.

Yesterday (Thursday) Northampton Crown Court heard the intended recipient alleged he had "been scammed" when he didn't receive the expensive item.

The delivery firm launched an investigation - and saw their own mechanic stealing two packages from a shelf on camera at the warehouse. One contained a fire blanket and the second contained the designer watch.

Prosecuting, Priya Bakshi said Kantorysinski, of Robin Road in Corby, was spotted concealing the parcels in his jacket before he drove away in a work vehicle and put them in his own Audi.

When he was shown the CCTV he admitted the theft.

Ms Bakshi said: "He said he had given the watch to a friend but said he would give the watch back to his employers."

Police were called but he asked his bosses to lie to them and say he had been dropped at work by someone else because he had been banned from driving. His employers said no.

Magistrates had banned him from the roads for five years in 2019 - his third ban since 2014.

Mitigating, Caroline Stewart said it was a 'moment of madness' and that he didn't know what was inside the packages he stole.

She said: "When he realised the the value of what he had taken he was shocked and began to appreciate the kind of trouble he would be in."

Character references read out in court described Kantorysinski as a "man of great integrity".

Ms Stewart said he was relieved when he was caught. The watch was returned later that day.

She said: "He struggled to know what to do when he had this item in his possession.

"To be caught and to confess to what had happened was, to him, a great relief."

She told Judge Mayo that a prison sentence would have a negative impact on his family and urged him to suspend it.

But with more people relying on deliveries in the Covid pandemic, Judge Mayo told the thief those who steal should expect to be sent to prison to maintain confidence in delivery services.

Kantorysinski was jailed for a total of eight months and handed an extra 12-month driving ban.