A technician who insisted he was owed payment from a Leicester workshop he'd worked at stole an expensive toolbox in a fit of anger.

He has avoided a jail sentence but Ashley Underwood now has a conviction for burglary as, two years after he'd done the work and allegedly not been paid, he walked into a private area of Abbey Cars & MOT in Uppingham Road and argued with its owner before walking out with the box of tools.

He was arrested and charged with burglary. The garage owner claimed the toolbox was worth between £300 and £400, but that was contested in court.

Leicester Magistrates Court was told it was an offence committed on impulse and Underwood, of Humberstone in Leicester, had "made a stupid decision".

Magistrates decided against imprisonment and issued him a 12-month conditional discharge, plus an order to pay a £26 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.

The Leicester Mercury reports that Underwood's solicitor Zara Cowan told magistrates: "He completed work for the company and said it would cost £200. The work had to stop because the garage didn't have the necessary equipment. He said he would only charge £100.

"For the last two years he's been trying to get the money but the business was ignoring his calls and his attempts to resolve the matter."

She said Underwood is now pursuing the garage through civil legal channels for the £100 he is still owed.

For more recent legal and court news relating to the motor retail industry see here.

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