King’s Lynn employee stole scratch cards, money and food from Nisa Local

A man who stole scratch cards, cash and food worth more than £3,000 from his employers will learn his fate later this year.

Luke Wheeler, 31, of Fred Ackland Drive in Lynn, appeared at the town’s magistrates’ court on Thursday charged with theft by an employee.

He pleaded guilty to the offence, which involved a series of incidents between January 18 and February 9 this year.

Crown prosecutor Lily Orr told magistrates that fellow staff at the Nisa Local store on Columbia Way, where Wheeler worked, began to notice money going missing from the till.

They watched CCTV footage on February 8, and saw the defendant pulling scratch cards from a behind-the-counter location before covering them with a newspaper.

He would then take them into a bathroom, with residue from the cards found on the toilet. Wheeler would put some used cards into the bin, as well as claiming the winnings of others by taking money from the till.

The scratch cards he stole were worth a combined £2,410, while he took a total of £797 in cash. Miss Orr said £53.77 of food and drink was also stolen from the store by Wheeler during the period of thefts.

The prosecutor added that Wheeler made full admissions to his offence in police interview, but that “some degree of trust” had been broken because he was an employee.

Mitigating, Andrew Cogan said Wheeler had spoken to officers voluntarily because there was “no way with getting away with what he done” – and that he has been dismissed from his job at the shop.

Magistrates, led by Ginny Hutton, asked for probation services to carry out a pre-sentence report on Wheeler.

He will return to court on October 4 to learn his fate, and has been released on unconditional bail until that date.