It’s a cold winter’s day and I am on a petrol forecourt in my capacity as a Trading Standards Officer. I’ve been called out to re-verify a petrol pump (basically it’s been repaired in some way and somebody independent needs to check its accuracy).
I met Harry (you may have guessed his real name wasn’t Harry) the engineer on site and the job started and finished without any dramas. As we’re packing away I notice that Harry has a well-used tennis ball in his toolbox. The contents of a man’s toolbox is his own business but something didn’t quite stack up. It was highly unlikely he was going to squeeze three sets in after work (not with that ball, coupled with the fact it was about 3 degrees and getting colder…)
I go inside the kiosk and sort the paperwork out with the Garage owner. I leave Harry to return the fuel we’d used to set-up the pump.
As I am chatting to the owner, I can see Harry over his shoulder. The tennis ball had made its way into the pocket of Harry’s fluorescent jacket. Harry has a quick look around to make sure nobody was watching and then proceeds to shove the tennis ball down the neck of the 20 litre petrol calibration measure hence forming a seal on top of the 20 litres of diesel. He then empties the other measures back into the fuel tanks.
Harry’s a strong man, he then picks up the measure complete with illicit fuel and promptly loads it into the back of his van…
Theft in plain sight… Harry jumps into his vehicle waves to the garage owner and drives off to his next job….
Obviously, I had to tell the garage owner what I had just seen, unfortunately for Harry the CCTV on the forecourt was working and he was caught in the act… I never saw Harry again, now I am not suggesting he was found at the bottom of the River Aire wearing concrete boots. But it is fair to say that his career prospects as a calibration engineer were over….
I am always open to taking on new clients/working in collaboration with other businesses, however if you’re a typical Harry I think I’ll pass….
