TWO former employees of The Range in Salisbury worked together to con the store out of thousands of pounds worth of goods in a nine-month period.

Liam Snook, 34, of Blackfriars Way in Salisbury, and Sarah Brooks, 34, of Coronation Road in Durrington carried out a total of 74 thefts from May 2023 to January 2024.

The partners in crime carried out most of the thefts together, with Snook occasionally stealing stock on his own.

It wasn’t until a new employee noticed Snook entering the shop by himself that alarm bells were raised.

Snook, a sales manager, and Brooks a shop assistant, would lift-share on days they worked together.

Upon her arrest, Brooks explained that during one fateful drive, they had a conversation about how easy it would be to steal from the shop.

From then onwards, Brooks would habitually steal every Monday and Thursday throughout her shift and just before Snook had closed the shop.

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They’d both go back inside the shop once the other employees had left in order to steal.

Staff initially became suspicious after a diligent new employee discovered the pair’s criminality, as Snook would let all the staff leave then re-enter the shop alone without reason, which breached the company’s policy against locking up the store alone.

The same situation occurred if Brooks was working except they’d both re-enter the shop, or Brooks would wait for Snook outside.

Local crime investigator Ange Dowsett said: “This was a calculated, high-value series of thefts during which Snook and Brooks abused their trusted positions as employees to steal thousands of pounds worth of goods.

“Their criminality was motivated, lengthy and without remorse and the CCTV footage shows a jubilant, planned mood when the pair were carrying out the theft.

“I would like to thank the reporting employee whose critical thinking and diligence led to the prosecution of these two offenders.”

Snook and Brooks’ employment was suspended on January 30, 2024, the day after they were caught in the act by The Range’s area loss prevention manager and some of the losses were recovered through deductions in their final paychecks.

Snook was sentenced to nine months imprisonment, suspended for two years, in addition to 150 hours of unpaid work.

Brooks received a community order which requires her to complete 167 hours of unpaid work within the next 12 months.

Both defendants must pay compensation of £2,866 each.