Bolton Amazon warehouse worker stole £42K worth of goods

Mahyar Afzal Houshmand, 23, was working at the Amazon warehouse at Logistics North in Bolton when he stole phones and other items in 2021.

Manchester Crown Court heard how he had worked out a complicated scheme to send the stolen goods to his own home, but did not sell any of them on.

Prosecutor Huw Edwards said: “The crown’s case is that was part of a sophisticated process.

“That included the shipping of the products out to a distributor and then having them posted to the defendant.”

The case was heard at Manchester Crown Court (Image: Newsquest)

Mr Edwards told the court that Houshmand managed to steal £42,777 worth of items before being caught after an internal investigation at Amazon.

He was then interviewed by the police and answered: “no comment” to most of the questions put to him but occasionally answered “ask Amazon.”

Houshmand, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to theft by employee of what would have been the first day of his trial.

Mr Edwards said that he had betrayed “a high degree of trust” that his employers had placed in him.

Anna Bond, defending, accepted that Houshmand, of Manchester Road West, Little Hulton, had “no reasonable answer” for why he had done what he had.

But she said that he did not seek to minimise or excuse his actions.

Ms Bond said: “He entirely concedes that part of him must have been doing this for onward sale.”

She told the court that Houshmand did not appear to be involved in any wider criminal conspiracy, that he was remorseful and that the stolen items had been returned.

Ms Bond said: “Ultimately, he hasn’t gained from it at all.”

She said that he had now lost his job and that his visa to stay in the UK was “in jeopardy.”

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Judge Sarah Johnson said that Houshmand was a “young man of ability and skills” who had been a “successful and highly regarded employee.”

She said that he had committed his thefts with “ease” and that his explanation for doing so was “lacking.”

But Judge Johnson told the defendant that “if it was greed that motivated you, you did not benefit.”

She sentenced him to 16 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered him to complete 150 hours of unpaid work with 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Judge Johnson also ordered him to pay costs of £150.