A BUILDER has been ordered to pay £455 for taking an excavator without the owner’s permission.
Clive Lee Herbert, of Meadow Close in Earls Croome, pleaded guilty at Worcester Magistrates Court on Friday (August 7) to taking the vehicle without consent.
Adrian Jones, prosecuting, told the court the 46-year-old was working on a building site for Horgan Homes and Development when an accident occurred and damage was caused to the site.
An investigation was started and the defendant was requested to leave the site while the dispute was ongoing and was not paid any money by the contractor.
However, the court heard the defendant claimed he was owed £7,500 by his former employer. Herbert then removed the excavator, which was valued at £22,000.
The vehicle had a tracker on it which lead to the defendant’s location. He was spoken to by police and admitted he had taken it.
Defence solicitor, Sam Lamsdale, said: “Mr Herbert had been working for the contractor, Mr Horgan, for several months by the time this occurred. He had hired others to work for him, there was an accident and it was a genuine accident.
“He got to the point where he had no money in the bank for his mortgage and he made that decision to go to this building site which he had been told work had stopped.
“He made that decision to borrow the excavator because he had been offered some work at the address he was arrested at to create a new drive but he did not have the money to hire an excavator so thought he would borrow one. He justified it to himself.
“He though he would able to return it in a few days.”
Herbert was ordered to pay a £200 fine, £20 victim surcharge, £150 in court charges and £85 in court costs.
