1 week Ago By [email protected] (Peter Craig)
An "utterly dishonest" council worker stole life-saving equipment and security devices, valued at more than £13,700, to sell on eBay to ease his own "cost of living crisis". The lifeline pendants and Key Safe security equipment items were intended to be used by vulnerable people to help them live independently but "greedy" council technician Daniel Kelly "dipped his hand in the till" and shamelessly helped himself to them in a "systematic" theft, a court heard. Kelly, 27, of Victory Way, Bridlington , admitted stealing products, valued at £13,768, from his employers, East Riding of Yorkshire Council , at Driffield and an offence of fraud by false representation at Bridlington between November 4, 2019 and July 24, 2023.
Billy Torbett, prosecuting, told Grimsby Crown Court that the Key Safe box suppliers became concerned when some of their equipment started appearing on the sales website, eBay, at a reduced price. Investigators alerted East Riding of Yorkshire Council when they bought some of the items off eBay and they matched the batch numbers sold to the council previously. The council, having just bought 250 of the items, carried out its own investigation and traced the sales to "Daniel K UK" and an address in Bridlington.
That address matched one of a team of six technicians employed by the council and an advertised mobile number matched that of Kelly. When council technician Kelly was confronted with the allegations, he initially denied that it was him. Later, he told council officers: "You got me.
" He admitted the theft and said that he had been committing the thefts for only a few months "in order to cope with the cost of living". But further investigation of the website revealed that he had been selling the items between July 2022 and July 2023. His three eBay accounts revealed sales of 122 items, including 113 Key Safes.
The money that he raked in amounted to more than £7,000. Between November 2019 and July 2022, a further 95 items were found to have been stolen and sold on eBay. They included a wi-fi router, five sets of headphones and about 90 Key Safe boxes.
During that period, £4,787 was made by Kelly, selling to people throughout the UK. "The cost to the council was higher because he was selling them for less than the council had paid for them," said Mr Torbett. The council dismissed Kelly in September 2023.
He claimed that he was owed £450 from the council in mileage claims and he said that he did it because of the "increasing cost of living and to raise money for his family." Kelly promised to pay the money back. It was a breach of trust and it was committed over a significant period of time lasting three years and eight months.
"It was stopping people getting the assistance they needed," said Mr Torbett. The compensation claim from the council totalled £13,786. Get all the latest crime and court news in Hull straight to your mobile via WhatsApp by clicking here .
If you don’t like our community, you can leave any time. We also treat members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. Read our privacy notice here .
Natalie Dean, mitigating, said that Kelly was under the impression that he had to wait for the criminal proceedings to be completed before he could pay back the money. Kelly regretted his actions. It was not done to indulge in luxury purchases but to ease the financial pressures of his family.
His partner at the time had a gambling addiction. Miss Dean said that Kelly was now working for an ambulance service and his new partner was expecting a child. He had no previous convictions.
Judge Gurdial Singh described Kelly as "utterly dishonest" and said that he had not made any effort to pay back a penny of the compensation, despite telling police that he would do so. "He had dipped his hand in the till," said Judge Singh. "He is someone who is greedy and he then sat on his hands and did nothing.
It is three years of dishonesty." Judge Singh told Kelly: "I think you are thoroughly dishonest and you did so in a systematic fashion. You say it was because you wanted to make up the mileage you were owed and then said it was a gambling addiction of your partner.
I don't believe either of those." Kelly was given a one-year suspended prison sentence and 250 hours' unpaid work. He was ordered to pay £13,786 compensation within six months.
.
