A man who worked in Asda used a customer's loyalty credit to go on a shopping spree.
Samuel Walsh, 26, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday (May 19), having pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud. Prosecuting, Henry Riding told the court that Walsh's victim Ms Hale had moved three lots of loyalty credit with Asda onto one loyalty account in April 2020.
This gave her £455.83 to spend in Asda stores. She tried to use the card at the Bromborough store on April 29 that year. However, she couldn't use it to pay as the balance was around £40.
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She had not used it since her balance stood at £455.83, so Asda investigated. They found a keyring-sized card associated with the account had been used at Asda stores at the Greyhound Retail Park in Chester and Queensferry in Deeside.
At the Chester store, £330 was spent on goods. This haul included £250 on a TV, £40 on hair straighteners, as well as a collection of frying pans and flatbreads. Additionally, just under £100 was spent at the Queensferry store, paying for a furniture set and a child's toy.
Walsh worked for an agency that operated Asda's rewards credit scheme. He had worked in his role, issuing cards at the Asda Bromborough store for around a month and a half.
Though he had been caught on CCTV making the purchases, Walsh denied wrongdoing in a police interview, claiming he had been sold the card for £300. However, he later abandoned that defence.
In mitigation, Brendan Carville said his client had not reoffended in the three years since. He added that Walsh didn't know who owned the card and it was not an act of "cunning or callous deception", but an "opportunistic offence".
Sentencing, Mr Recorder Eric Lamb told Walsh: "It is extraordinary that you involved yourself in this when you are a man of previously good character". He described the offending as an "extraordinary lapse on your part" and a "breach of trust" placed on the agency and him by Asda.
Walsh was handed a one year community order. He must complete 100 hours of unpaid work and 10 required rehabilitation days.
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