A COURIER has been warned he could face jail after he stole almost £6,000-worth of parcels from his employer.

Dawid Orzazewski pleaded guilty to the offence on Wednesday afternoon when he appeared before magistrates sitting in Swindon, having previously confessed to police during interview to the theft from Hermes’ Swindon depot.

Crown prosecutor Nick Barr said the South Marston-based depot had a rigorous system in place to track parcels.

He said: “Parcels are scanned at the main depot then taken to the sub-depot where they are scanned again to confirm they have been received.

“They are then sorted and then scanned out by the couriers who then take them out for delivery. This is what happened on June 21 – 60 parcels were scanned as arriving, but were reported as missing.”

Mr Barr explained the theft came to light after a woman out for a walk from Didcot to Upton with her child encountered 25-year-old Orzazewski from Ockley Brook, Didcot. He approached her and asked to use her phone and she noticed a car behind him that was full of items. Concerned by what she had seen, she called the police.

“The police found the car full of boxes and parcels,” said Mr Barr. “They went to his property where they found numerous other items that had been taken from the depot. In interview he made full admissions. It is a serious breach of trust.”

It is believed that the number of parcels stolen between June 13 and June 22 amounted to around £5,926.98 of goods.

His defence, Terence McCarthy urged the bench to order a pre-sentence report be prepared.

Adjourning matters, chairman of the bench Jonathan Chappell said: “Because of the seriousness of this offence and the likelihood the sentence may well be custodial we are going to request the probation service meet with you to interview you and try to understand why you have committed this offence.

“We request that they consider all options when preparing that report, including a potential custodial sentence.”

He will next appear at Swindon Magistrates’ Court on September 16 and was released on unconditional bail.