A 57-year-old lorry driver who used his company card to buy diesel and then sold it to taxi drivers, has been put on probation for 12 months.

Robert Keith Rickaby, of Ashworth Close, Blackburn, had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to theft of diesel worth £3,041 from Premier Seating. He was ordered to pay £2,600 in compensation after the court heard the company had retained wages owed to Rickaby.

Michael Blacklidge, defending, said Rickaby had initially been re-employed by the company but had subsequently lost his job because of problems with the insurance company covering him.

Stipendiary magistrate, Jonathon Finestein said that were it not for his age and relatively good character he might well have gone to prison.

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