A former University of York employee has been sentenced for stealing equipment from the institution.
Carl James Turnbull, 42, made over £8,500 by stealing respiratory equipment from the biology department and selling it online, York magistrates heard.
He has now been served a community order and is required to carry out 200 hours’ unpaid work and was ordered to pay £660 compensation to the university, York Press reports.
Whilst employed at the university, Turnbull was responsible for ordering masks and gloves for the department but used his position to secretly reroute 63 high value respiratory head units and list them on eBay for a fraction of the original price.
The stolen equipment, worth up to £700 a piece, was reportedly sold for just £200 to 350 each. Turnbull used his own email address and eBay account to carry out the sales, making £8,650 before the university caught on.
He resigned the day after being interviewed as part of an internal investigation and officially left the university in August 2023.
Turnbull, from Market Weighton, pleaded guilty to theft by employee, admitting to taking the items in February and April 2023. He told his solicitor that he’d been in a “desperate” financial situation after his partner also left their job at the university, leaving him to support them both. He also claimed he was a victim of workplace bullying and had previously made a formal complaint to the university.
His defence solicitor, Lee-Anne Robins-Hicks, said the theft was out of character and blamed it on stress, debt, and “clouded judgment”. The court also heard that Turnbull has since found work in the animal feed industry and has not committed any further offences.
The solicitor also explained the equipment was stolen t out of “financial desperation” because he and his partner had been unable to replay a £10,000 loan they had taken out when both were in full-time employment.
