A MAN with a criminal record for dishonesty got a job as a security guard and stole £9,000 worth of computer equipment from a Bolton school.

David Earp knew that he was being filmed by CCTV security cameras but still went ahead and stole new IBM laptops from Turton secondary school.

Earp was employed by Johnson Security Services and was entrusted with a pass key which allowed him access to all parts of the school. The computers had just been delivered to the school and staff had locked them inside the TV studio suite for safekeeping.

But when they examined CCTV film the following morning they saw Earp carrying the computers first to reception and then to his car. None of the laptops have been recovered.

When he was arrested four days later, Earp, aged 40, of Tintern Avenue, Tonge Moor, claimed a friend had suggested stealing the laptops and he had agreed. Someone had told him they would give him £600 for the laptops and he had decided to steal them.

Yesterday at Bolton Crown Court, Judge Bernard Lever jailed Earp for six months for the theft, which had put the school and pupils in some difficulty.

The court heard that Earp had a criminal record for offences, including theft, burglary, obtaining property by deception and aggravated vehicle taking.