Man steals co-worker’s purse to buy eight shots

Friday 18 June 2021

A night out in the Randy Paddle cost one man more than he expected, after being handed a fine for stealing the cash and card from a co-worker’s purse.

Gary James Dean, 38, was out for a Christmas works do on 17 December last year with several colleagues.

The group arrived at the Randy Paddle at 19:30. After the victim left, staff found their purse dumped in the bin in the men’s toilets, and using ID inside, managed to identify and contact them to pick it up.

The victim discovered that a bank card and £55 had been taken, so the card was cancelled and Guernsey Police were called.

Pictured: Dean was seen on CCTV in the pub, picking up the victim’s bag and taking the purse out of it.

Police officers went through CCTV to discover Dean stealing the purse, going to the men’s toilets, then coming out and paying for two rounds of drinks by tapping a card. 

During interview he said that he’d paid on his own card, but was unable to provide evidence of the transactions. He ultimately entered a guilty plea to one count of theft and two counts of fraud on 24 May.

Defence Advocate David Domaille argued that it was a “spur of the moment” action and completely out of character, and that Dean had been trying to lead a responsible life. 

“You sailed very close to a custodial sentence today,” said Judge Graeme McKerrell, who said the severity of the crime wasn’t tied to the amount stolen, but the breach of trust.

“It is very well meeting with probation and expressing remorse, but what about the victim? I have little doubt she would’ve been caused upset,” he said.

Dean was fined £1,000 for stealing the purse and £400 for each charge of fraud. He was also ordered to pay £200 compensation to the victim.