Clapham G4S driver who stole nearly £900,000 jailed Published duration 26 July 2019

image copyright Reuters image caption Nearly £900,000 was taken from the G4S van (file photo)

A G4S driver has been jailed for four years and eight months for stealing £889,440 in cash from one of the security firm's vans.

Joel March, 36, abandoned the van in Clapham, south London, and fled with the deposit boxes on 23 April.

He was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court after admitting to theft by employee and concealing the proceeds of crime.

The prosecution said £860,840 was still missing.

March, of Rectory Grove, Clapham, was tasked with transporting 48 containers of cash to various addresses in central London.

Instead he made off with 43 of the containers.

March had left the keys in the ignition, and his personal and work mobile phones and body armour behind.

image copyright CPS image caption Joel March was pictured transporting one of the containers

The blue armoured van was parked for eight hours on a double yellow line on Larkhall Rise, where there were no CCTV cameras, before G4S was alerted.

March was found by police the next day and arrested at a south London address where two bags of cash totalling £28,600 were found, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

The court previously heard he spent £1,400 on sportswear and trainers at JD Sports.

Judge Usha Karu did not accept that the theft was an "impulsive spur of the moment" act.

She said March's defence of being disillusioned with G4S and £10,000 in debt were not credible explanations.

Alex Agbamu, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Joel March was a trusted member of staff who abused his position to make a gain of nearly one million pounds in cash.

"March will now spend a significant amount of time in prison and will have to live with the consequences of his actions in relation to future employment opportunities."

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