Scott Winter sentenced to 14 months for over £75,000 theft from cashier tills

Scott Winter, 49 of Revesby Walk in Birmingham, has been sentenced to 14 months in prison after being found guilty of stealing between £75-80,000 worth of cash from a supermarket.

Winter, who was an employee at the supermarket branch on Park Road in Coleshill, raised suspicions with the Loss Prevention Manager at the store when he made repeated and excessive use of the voucher button on the till.

The Loss Prevention Manager was informed about the transactions and attended the store to observe Winter over the instore CCTV.

Winter was seen removing cash from the tills and putting it into his pocket, before visiting the toilet.

He was intercepted on the way out of the toilet before being taken to an internal holding room and undertaking an internal company interview with store security.

During the interview, Winter gave a full admission to stealing money from the store.

The money had been removed from the tills using a tender swap process. Winter would go to each till on the shopfloor before pressing the coupon button and entering the amount he wanted to take from the till, usually around £150.

He would then put the money into his wallet while in the toilets and out of view. On the day he was caught, Winter had approximately £400 on him from this process.

Previous CCTV footage confirmed that Winter had been carrying this process out on a regular basis.

The thefts had started at the same time he started at the store in August of 2021.

The supermarket representatives estimated that Winter stole around £80,000 in cash over the course of two years before he was arrested on 9 June 2023.

Winter was shocked by this, but on reflection said this could reasonably be an accurate figure.

The money was used to go towards Winter’s bills, debts, and to fund a crack and cannabis drug habit costing a few hundred pounds per day.

Scott Winter, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced in Warwick Crown Court on 6 December to 14 months in prison for theft by employee.

PC Stephen Taylor of North Warwickshire SNT said “Winter knew what he was doing was wrong, and in fact he admitted to it readily, but that didn’t stop him from pocketing tens of thousands of pounds before getting caught.

“If it hadn’t been for robust processes and vigilant shop staff at the supermarket, he might never have been caught at all.

“The steel grip of illicit drugs like crack cocaine on people’s lives, pushing them towards criminality, is more than visible here.

“Winter has received 14 months to consider what route he wants to take for his life in future, and we hope that he finds the help he needs to get clean and be better.”