The way the company had behaved towards long-serving employee Nicholas John White had been ‘the unacceptable face of capitalism’, claimed defence counsel Advocate Sue Pearmain, and had driven him to steal ‘as a cry for help’.
In the Magistrate’s Court yesterday White (39), who had worked for Boots for 19 years, admitted stealing £600 between June and August last year while employed as store manager, a position he had held for five years after being transferred to Jersey.
The company held an internal examination after cash irregularities were discovered, and cameras that were put in place caught White taking money from the tills, Centenier David Letto told the court.
But in White’s defence, Advocate Pearmain said that Boots had given him no support during his time in Jersey, and he had felt isolated.
The company had expected him to live in a noisy hotel and had refused to relocate him from the Island, until in the end he could not cope and decided to steal money to try to draw attention to the problem.