Graduate who stole electrical goods avoids going to prison

A university graduate who stole electrical goods worth almost £3,000 from a Currys store where he worked was told on Monday by a judge to 'count yourself very lucky'' he was not going to jail after he suspended a six-month prison term.

Paul Anthony Maxwell, 23, of Woodland Grange, Belfast, had pleaded guilty to stealing a television, an iPad and Macbook from the Currys store where he worked at in Upper Galwally, south Belfast.

Crown prosecutor Laura Ivers told Downpatrick Crown Court that Maxwell was caught on the store’s CCTV system in February 2014 taking out a large Samsung Smart television valued at £1,899.

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He also stole a Macbook worth £999 and a iPad valued at £399.

After being confronted by management and following the intervention of police who searched his home, the television was recovered.

But Ms Ivers told Judge Stephen Fowler QC that the Macbook and iPad had still not been recovered.

Conor Maguire, defending, said Maxwell had graduated last year from the Ulster University with a business degree and was now working for a telecommunications company but had not as yet told them of his court appearance for theft.

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He said that Maxwell, who had no previous criminal convictions. was an employee of Currys for 19 months and the thefts from the company were a “significant and aggravating factor’’ in the case.

“He accepts that he was not going to get away with it as he was captured on CCTV.’’

Mr Maguire told the court that Maxwell “accepts the seriousness of the offencess and the gravity of the situation he finds himself in’’.

The defence barrister said the graduate comes from a good family background and his parents had expressed “frustration’’ at his actions against his employer.

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The court heard that the outstanding balance of £1,398 for the Macbook and iPad had been paid into court on Monday by the defendant’s father as full restitution to Currys.

Urging the court not to send Maxwell to prison immediately, Mr Maguire said Maxwell “was fearful of having to go to prison and all that entails. But that is not a reason to keep him out of prison.

He added: “I would submit that he is not somebody who is very likely to come before this court again. He has expressed remorse in the pre-sentence report for his behaviour.’’

Judge Stephen Fowler QC said it was an “extremely unusual case’’ of a young man who had been provided for by his parents, who had been given a good education and was on a “stepping stone towards what appeared to have been a bright future in management”.

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Added the judge: “But that has all now been blighted and blighted for inexplicable reasons. There is nothing on the papers to explain why he did this. His father is at a complete loss as to why he did this.”

Saying he was “going to take a chance’’ on the defendant, Judge Fowler QC said he was prepared to suspend the six-month sentence for a period of 18 months.

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