A Rosyth dockyard worker who stole parts for the HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier has been given a community sentence.
Jamie Aird stole metal and valves over a period of nearly four months and earned himself more than £6,200 from a scrap metal dealer.
Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard Aird used his security pass to access the area where the thefts took place, including when he was on sick leave.
The 29-year-old appeared in the dock for sentencing after earlier pleading guilty to theft from Building 317, Babcock International, Rosyth Dockyard, between December 1 2022 and March 20 2023.
Sheriff Krista Johnston told him: “You were clearly a trusted employee in the course of your work and you breached that trust by committing the offence before me and as a consequence, the loss or value is of some note.”
The sheriff said she took into account first offender Aird has responsibility for a young family, returned a positive social work report which described him as a “talented young man” who has worked most of his life and has expressed remorse and shame.
She imposed 250 hours of unpaid work, reduced from the maximum available 300 hours, as part of a community payback order.
The court heard previously Aird had worked at the dockyard as an apprentice pipe fabricator and and had a swipe card to work in Building 317 – known as the light repair shop – until September 2022, before moving to another location within the dockyard.
The court heard the building is used for the fabrication of pipe work and other engineering tasks on materials used during the building of naval vessels, including Type 31 frigates.
It is also used to store material for servicing and maintenance of the Prince of Wales Aircraft carrier.
During the end of 2022 and early 2023 a quantity of metal piping – destined for use on the naval vessels under construction and undergoing maintenance in the dockyard – was stolen.
A “large quantity” of hull valves were delivered for the aircraft carrier, which was docked for maintenance, and four were suspected to have been stolen.
On March 13 2023, Aird went on sick leave for just over a month after claiming to have fallen off a chair in Building 317.
Investigators at Babcock identified Aird had used his security swipe card for Building 317 at suspicious times and dates outside his normal working hours, in particular during the sick leave.
On April 10 he was interviewed by HR but he did not give a clear explanation and resigned ten days later.
Further enquiries revealed Aird received payments from scrap metal dealers around the times metal and hull valves disappeared.
Police retrieved copies of Aird’s bank account statements, which showed he had received a total of £6,275 over six separate occasions.
Aird’s defence lawyer described his client as a “talented young individual” with a young family and good work history.
He said the prosecution has taken its toll on Aird’s mental health.
The lawyer also pointed out Aird was willing to pay compensation.
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