Worker gave people free mobile airtime

Nineteen-year-old Steve Patton, who worked as a customer services representative at the Orange call centre in Darlington, applied credits to 144 numbers without authorisation between April and July last year, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Nigel Wray, prosecuting, said the credits had been between £10 and £590, and totalled £9,895.

When the company was alerted, Patton was arrested and a list of hand-written numbers were found in his possession.

When questioned by police, Mr Wray said that Patton told them he was approached with a list of numbers and threatened with violence if he did not credit the lines.

He told officers he was afraid of being assaulted and had agreed to the request under duress.

Mr Wray said that he also told police that it was a co-incidence that some of the numbers he falsely credited were those of his friends.

However, a witness in the case claimed that Patton, of Glen View, Richmond, North Yorkshire, had made it known that he would take a sum of money for crediting numbers and had invited friends to join the scam.

Anthony Braithwaite, defending, said Patton was of previous good character and accepted that he had cost Orange a large sum of money.

He told the court that Patton had not received any personal benefit from the false accounting.

Since his arrest the defendant, said Mr Braithwaite, had received tremendous support from his colleagues and a character witness told the court how Patton was extremely remorseful over what he had done.

Recorder Ian Thorp said that while he accepted there had been some threats and there had been an element of duress, Patton had nevertheless not reported the matter to the police.

He told him: "This was a very serious breach of trust'' from someone placed in a position of responsibility.

Sending Patton to a young offenders' institution for five months, he told him: "The offence is so serious that only a custodial sentence is justified."