Judge scolds 20-year-old man who pocketed £8,000 from till at Northampton Boots

Cameron Lane, of Friars Close, Delapre, did not have any pressing debts to pay off while working at the Boots in the Market Square, Northampton town centre.

So when he began pinching cash from the till in May 2018, he only thought of spending it on himself.

But as the months went on, the 20-year-old graduated from using the stolen cash to buy his lunch to paying his rent.

By September, he was pocketing around £620 a week.

By the time an investigative officer for Boots caught Lane on CCTV reaching into the cash drawer, he had stolen a total of £8,000.

At Northampton Crown Court yesterday (May 7), Lane was ordered to pay back all the cash he had taken.

But His Honour Judge Rupert Mayo was "unimpressed" to hear that since his arrest, the 20-year-old had built up no savings to start paying off his debt.

The judge said: "It is feeble for him to think, 'oh the judge will never send me to prison today', because [I] just might.

"I'm not impressed by this young man. He just wanted the money for himself... Now, he has a job. He lives with his mother. He has no debts, no expenses, no rent, and he's not paying for drugs. So where is [his monthly salary] going to?"

In mitigation, Lane's defence barrister told the judge the 20-year-old was suffering from depression and anxiety since his arrest.

But the judge found no sympathy and said: "Well excuse me if I say 'poor him'.

"He stole from his employer, got caught and now he's depressed."

In sentencing Lane, Judge Mayo said: "You systematically stole from Boots, who gave you a job and you simply spent it on yourself.

"I appreciate you've started counselling but this is all down to you.

"It's about time you took responsibility for your own life."

Lane was given two years to pay back the £8,000 and warned he was looking at time in prison if he was "stupid enough" to commit another offence.