Two shop workers from Tesco Formby steal over £6,000 in refund cash

A Formby Tesco shop worker falsely claimed £6,000 in customer refunds and then pocketed the cash. Julie Evans, 53, of The Moorings, Lydiate, worked as a customer service assistant at the Tesco store in Formby. She admitted stealing the money between June 2018 and July 2019, when she appeared at Sefton Magistrates Court on Wednesday 20th November.

Her colleague, Linda Ford aged 62, of Central Avenue, Birkdale, admitted stealing £138.10 between July 2018 and December 2018.

Both Julie Evans and Linda Ford had worked for Tesco for a considerable amount of time and both had previously been subject to disciplinary proceedings. In 2007, Evans was caught helping herself to stock when she worked on the deli counter while in 2009, Ford was caught putting 'reduced stickers' on items and then buying them for herself. They had aroused the suspicions of staff when they were seen to process customer refunds without any customer present. At the time Evans told her bosses a customer had phoned after forgetting to pick up a refund and she was putting the money aside for the customer to pick up. However, Evans was monitored closely from mid June of this year after she was seen by a fellow staff member put money in her pocket. The staff member didn’t want to believe what they had seen at first but felt that they had no choice but to report it when they saw it happen again.

Evans admitted stealing £30 to £40 three times a week for about 12 months or longer and that she had problems in her personal life with gambling and credit card debts. Ford told bosses she’d known about the scam for about five months and that Evans had entangled her in it. The court heard that Ford resigned her job after being interviewed while Evans was sacked.

The matter has now been sent to Liverpool Crown Court where they were Evans and Ford were told to appear on 18th December 2019.