Sarah Taylor: Killarney Vale Coles staffer caught stealing cigarettes
“I don’t know why I did it” — A long serving Killarney Vale Coles staffer has faced court over five finger discounts after stocktake reveals $29,000 in missing smokes.
Central Coast
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A Coles Killarney Vale staff member has been convicted of stealing after a stock take revealed nearly $29,000 worth of cigarettes were missing over the past six months.
Sarah Taylor, 57, of Long Jetty, faced Wyong Local Court on Wednesday where she pleaded guilty to eight counts of stealing property from her employer.
The court heard Taylor had been an employee at the store for 13 years and regularly worked at the front counter where cigarettes were sold.
An agreed set of police facts, tendered in court, state in February 2020 a caretaker store manager completed a stock take of all items for the previous six months.
When the results came back it was revealed about $29,000 worth of cigarettes, of different brands and types, were missing.
The caretaker manager was tasked to find out where they were going missing but with the onset of COVID-19 had to focus his time elsewhere.
Three months later the caretaker manager reviewed another daily stock take report and noticed two packets of Pall Mall 40 blue cigarettes, worth $49.50 each, were missing.
On May 17 he reviewed CCTV of the cigarette sales counter from about 6.30am on May 11 and watched Taylor take a packet of Pall Mall blue 40s out of the storage drawer and place them under a counter near the cash register.
The facts state soon after she placed them in her right pocket and made no attempt to pay for them for the rest of her shift.
The manager reviewed further footage and discovered Taylor had done the same thing on four other occasions on May 4, 7, 11 and 12.
On May 18 another stock take revealed another packet of Pall Mall blue 40s was missing and a review of CCTV showed Taylor removing it from the storage drawer, placing it near the cash register before slipping it into her right pocket.
On that date the caretaker manager contacted Coles’ human resources department and was told to suspend Taylor immediately.
“Later that day, the accused attempted to resign via phone however (the manager) did not accept this,” the facts state.
The manager contacted Coles’ Fraud Team who conducted an investigation which located a further two occasions where Taylor committed the same offence on April 28 and 30.
“It is believed the accused has been committing this same offence on occasions prior to these dates as the total amount of cigarettes missing is significantly higher than these eight occasion totalling $396 however CCTV footage prior to these dates is unable to be accessed,” the facts read.
Taylor’s solicitor told the court she suffered a stroke five years ago and smoked “to relieve that stress”.
He said while there was a “suspicion” she had been doing it longer than the eight times she was caught on camera he asked the court to “disregard” that.
The court heard it was Taylor’s first criminal offence and when she was spoken to by police repeatedly told officers “I don’t know why I did it”.
Magistrate Elizabeth Ellis said “there was a degree of criminality” to the offending which crossed the threshold to warrant a jail sentence.
She said Taylor took the cigarettes because she was “financially strained” and “expected to be caught”.
Ms Ellis convicted Taylor and sentenced her to an intensive corrections order (ICO) for 10 months with supervision.
An ICO is the court’s equivalent of full time imprisonment but served in the community.
Taylor arrived at court on a mobility scooter and Ms Ellis said she was not in a condition to perform community service work, so instead ordered her to undertake behavioural programs.
“I would like to add `give up smoking’ but I can’t,” Ms Ellis told Taylor.
