Axed worker guilty of stealing company information

2:44pm Friday 10th October 2008

An employee who was made redundant from a small Surbiton audio business has been found guilty of stealing more than 10 years worth of valuable company information.

Dario Alexander had been employed as a technical sales manager for Sound and Visual, in Hook Rise North, for three-and-a half-years when he was told he was being made redundant because of falling sales on July 27, last year.

Kingston Magistrates Court heard on October 8 that the 59-year-old then downloaded the entire company address book, including business contacts and sensitive personal data and emailed it to his wife before leaving the business.

Alexander, of Spring Lane West, Farnham, denied stealing the information under the Computer Misuse Act and said that as the company’s computers were not password protected, anyone could have sent the email.

James Benson, prosecuting, told the court that after an 11am meeting on July 27 where Alexander was told his employment had been terminated, he was asked to clear his desk and hand over his ongoing contracts.

Mr Benson then said the email containing the “valuable company document” was then sent to Alexander’s wife at 12.17pm.

David Lattimore, 72, owner of Sound and Visual, who had known Alexander for more than 20 years, said the document, including information of work carried out for the Metropolitan Police and Government was priceless.

“I totally trusted him. To a small company like us that document was our business and that was what Mr Alexander tried to take,” Mr Lattimore said.

Under cross examination from defence solicitor Richard Tutt, Mr Lattimore categorically denied anyone else could have sent the email.

“The only person with the ability to do that in the office at that time was Mr Alexander. No one else could have done it unless we’re talking about ghosts,” he said.

The theft was only discovered when the owner’s daughter, Elizabeth Lattimore, returned from being unwell on August 6.

She had become suspicious of Alexander after a 44mb file containing an address book which he had tried to send on July 24 had crashed the company’s computer system so she set up a trace on his emails.

When she returned to work she found the email from July 27 with the address book compressed as a zip file on it and alerted her father.

Alexander, a grandfather of two, was found guilty after the trial concluded on October 9 and was warned by magistrate David Mulholland that he could face jail.

He said: “We are satisfied that, when you had full access to the computer, you caused the computer to perform these functions when you were aware your access was unauthorised as your employment had been terminated.”

Sentencing was adjourned until October 30 for probation reports to be completed.

Alexander was released on unconditional bail.