CID nabs duo for Frontline rip-off

Two ex-employees and an accomplice to be prosecuted for planned kit theft

Basingstoke Police will prosecute two former employees of distributor Frontline for the alleged attempted theft of equipment worth #60,000, following the conclusion of its investigations.

Christan Hubbard and Zachary Stephens were arrested on 14 January and 12 May respectively for conspiring to steal 20 laptop computers valued at about #3,000 each.

Hubbard, a former internal sales executive within the Unix division for over a year, left Frontline in December 1996 after the distributor moved its Datech 2000 unit from Sidcup to Leatherhead and he did not wish to relocate with it. Stephens was with Frontline for two months and left in December 1995.

A third man who was not a Frontline employee, and known only as Mr Fordham, was arrested on 8 May.

Investigations by Basingstoke CID have only now just been concluded, and the police have decided to prosecute the three men at the High Court with the full co-operation of the distributor.

DCI Whitmarsh, in charge of the case at Basingstoke CID, said a court date has yet to be fixed and that it is not likely to go to court until the end of the year because at least one of the defendants is expected to plead not guilty.

Oliver Grant-Adamson, personnel manager at Frontline, said the attempted theft was discovered by Nick Tillman, Frontline credit manager, when ?a security measure used in the credit checking process caught them?.

?No one can get an order and just receive it. They got caught out, not knowing how to do it ? #60,000 is not a sufficient loss to cause us problems,? he said.