Airport thief pays £6000 to avoid jail

AN airport worker who stole more than £6000 worth of duty free goods from Edinburgh Airport and sold them on the internet has avoided a prison sentence after repaying the value of the goods.

Richard Somerville, 42, was today sentenced to 200 hours of community service after admitting stealing make-up, sunglasses, watches, gifts, jewellery and computer memory cards from the World Duty Free shop at the airport.

Police were called in after airport bosses discovered the items were missing and Somerville, of Rowan Grove, Livingston, admitting selling many of the items on eBay.

He pleaded guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month to stealing £6090 worth of goods from the airport between September 2006 and August 2007 and brought a cheque for the full amount to court today.

The court was told Somerville was a first offender and had been in debt at the time but had now taken out a loan to repay the value of goods he took.

Sheriff Nigel Morrison said: "In the circumstances I propose to deal with this matter by way of community service of 200 hours."