Mower pulls a swiftie on boss in fuel card rip-off

A mower operator working for a council contractor has faced court for using a work fuel card to fill up his own car on the weekends.

Anthony James Paton, 33, faced court for using his employer's fuel card for personal use.

A MOWER operator working for a council contractor has faced court for using a work fuel card to fill up his own car on the weekends.

The Glenview contactor gave Anthony James Paton, 33, a BP fuel card so he could fill mowers and slashers used to carry out maintenance work for Sunshine Coast Council and Main Roads.

During his 10 months of employment, Paton used the card to fill up his own car 13 times.

The company’s owner checked his fuel bill on October 23 last year when he found a transaction from a Sunday when no employees were working.

The transaction raised a red flag and he found a dozen other unauthorised fuel transactions from April to September, before reporting the incident to Nambour police.

“At this time the victim has further produced a spreadsheet showing the unauthorised fuel transactions as well as a number of exchanged test messages between him and the suspect,” police prosecutor Stephen Potter said.

Paton, now living at Gympie, made full admissions when he was interviewed by police.

The text messages revealed he had offered to pay back the $924.41 he racked up but told his boss he would need to keep his job.

At Caloundra Magistrates Court today, Paton pleaded guilty to 13 charges of stealing by clerks and servants.

Lawyer Neesha Maidwell said Paton was a father-of-two and was set to start a new job in the mines.

She said he had offered to work unpaid for a week to repay his debt and provided full assistance to police.

Magistrate Graham Hillan said Paton “came within a whisker of having a jail term imposed” due to the serious nature of the offending.

Paton was fined $2000 and ordered to pay back the $924.41.

The convictions were recorded.

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