Reading Station ticket office raided - man arrested

[whole diary]

[bobm]

From Get Reading

A man has been detained by police after ^a substantial amount of cash^ understood to be up to ^50,000 was stolen in an overnight raid at Reading train station.
 
The 32-year-old was arrested by British Transport Police on suspicion of burglary on Friday, April 30 and has been released on bail pending further inquiries.
 
The break-in was reported shortly before 8am on Sunday, April 22.
 
A friend of a member of First Great Western (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) staff, who declined to be named, told getreading how he returned to Reading after watching the London Marathon to discover police at the scene.
 
He said: ^The ticket office was closed on Sunday and the police were inside taking fingerprints and there were staff selling tickets outside.
 
^I heard from a friend who works for FGW that tens of thousands of pounds had gone missing.^
 
BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) spokesman Simon Letouze said: ^Officers were called to Reading rail station on Sunday, April 22, following a report of a burglary in the ticket office.
 
^Officers attended the incident, which was reported to BTP at 7.51am by station staff.
 
^During the burglary a substantial amount of cash was taken from inside the station.^
 
FGW declined to comment on the burglary but insisted it would not be making any ^kneejerk reaction^ regarding security until the outcome of the police investigation.
 
Spokesman James Davis said: ^Unfortunately the ticket office was closed all day. FGW staff were on hand with avantix [portable ticket system] machines from about 9am to 8pm.
 
^The station ticket machines were working all day.
 
^Train managers were also advised to allow customers to buy their tickets on board.
 
^FGW apologises for any inconvenience caused.^
 
The suspect, from Central Reading, has been bailed until Friday, June 29.

[EBrown]

A little worrying perhaps that this happened under FGWs^▸ (First Great Western) and probably the BTPs^▸ (British Transport Police) noses. At least this man has now been caught.

FGW did a fantastic job of keeping this under-wraps!

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Reading Post:

Supervisor stole more than ^45,000 from ticket office at Reading Railway station

Roland Amaechi was sentenced to three years and nine months imprisonment after admitting nine counts of theft, including stealing ^45,641.61 overnight between April 21 and 22 2012

A First Great Western supervisor with a ^chronic gambling addiction^ admitted to stealing more than ^45,000 from the ticket office at Reading Railway station, at Reading Crown Court on Wednesday.

Roland Amaechi, of Queen^s Road, Central Reading, was sentenced to three years and nine months imprisonment after admitting nine counts of theft, including stealing ^45,641.61 overnight between April 21 and 22 2012.

The 34-year-old was due to stand trial after he denied a charge of burglary, but the Crown Prosecution Service offered an alternative charge of theft which he admitted.

While in charge of the station on the night of April 21, Amaechi entered the ticket office on four occasions and stole the money from a drop safe. When staff turned up for the morning shift they found the CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) system switched off, the inner fire escape door slightly open and the safe on its side.

The court heard on four occasions earlier in April 2012 Amaechi had spent time in the ticket office talking to members of staff about how the fire door system operated.

Jane Davies, prosecuting, said: ^It is the Crown^s case he was effectively planning how to get into the ticket office.^

In the days after the theft Amaechi was seen on CCTV footage in bookies near to the station for hours at a time. Mrs Davies said: ^He is effectively posting ^50 notes into a roulette machine.^

She explained that activity on one of Amaechi^s bank accounts showed money coming in and out from bookies before the theft and then restarted in June 2012.

When police searched Amaechi^s home they found ^800 cash and 8,000 US dollars. A further ^2,000 that Amaechi had given a woman to settle a debt was also confiscated. All the money will be given to First Great Western as compensation.

At a hearing on September 23, Amaechi admitted eight counts of theft of items from the station^s lost property office between September 2011 and April 2012 including a Macbook Pro, iPad 2, Nikon D5000 SLR digital camera, Nokia, Samsung Galaxy, Sony Ericsson and Doro mobile phones and an iPhone 4.

The court heard Amaechi sold some of them to Cash Converters.

Jonathan Coode, defending, said: ^It is crystal clear what is behind this offending. This man clearly has an affliction when it comes to gambling.^

Before sentencing Judge Peter Ross said it was clear Amaechi had a ^massive gambling addiction^ and that he accepted the thefts were ^to fund the addiction^.

Judge Ross sentenced Amaechi to three years and three months imprisonment for the theft of the money, and six months for each of the eight other theft counts, concurrent on each but to be served consecutively to the money theft.