Clever booze thieves cau
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• A haulage boss and one of his employees have been jailed for a total of 11 years after stealing £1.2m worth of goods from sealed containers.
The thefts by Graham Ascroft, the head of RJB Haulage in Tarleton, Lancashire. and Paul Taylor mainly involved wine, beer and spirits but included bicycles and other property as well.
Preston Crown Court heard how they used a complex procedure to gam entry to the containers without breaking their seals. Ascroft was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years jail and had a confiscation order of
£737,000 made against him. He pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to steal, forgery and attempting to obtain money by deception.
Taylor, who pleaded guilty to similar charges, was jailed for three-and-a-half years and received a confiscation order of £75,000.
Detective Inspector Neil Simpson of Lancashire Police's Major Crime Unit said after the hearing that in the late 1990s Ascroft took over Renfrewshire-based Houston Transport, which had a number of contracts with whisky distilleries.
The containers were being
exported to various countries across the world and it was difficult for the companies to decide where the thefts had occurred," he told the court, 'Had they occurred in England. at the dockside or in the countries of destination?" He added that the "penny suddenly dropped" about who was responsible during a trade association meeting of whisky distilleries.
The crime unit is offering advice to any companies who believe their sealed containers are at risk from a similar type of theft.
Contact DI Simpson on 01772 618135.