Norwich forklift driver jailed over £3.5m Jack Daniels theft

James Barr, 35, moved pallets containing almost 23,000 crates of Jack Daniels onto lorries at Richard Johnston Ltd, a warehouse company based at Snetterton.

Norwich forklift driver James Barr has been jailed for three years (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)

Norwich Crown Court was told the duty supervisor, who had worked for the company for six years, helped steal four lorry loads worth more than £206,000.

The thefts took place in October 2019 and were part of a wider plot involving others and had cost the firm numerous cancelled orders from customers, the court heard.

Prosecutor Benedict Peers said CCTV showed lorries entering and leaving through a gate that avoided a weighbridge where drivers had to show documentation between October 2 and 20.

The thefts took place at the Richard Johnston Ltd bonded warehouse at Snetterton (Image: Bidwells)

Barr, of St James Close, Norwich, quit his role at the firm the following day but was arrested a year later.

Mr Peers said financial investigators found he had made numerous sizeable deposits at ATM machines across Norwich.

Barr pleaded guilty to theft and transferring criminal property.

Oliver Haswell, mitigating, said it had been “out of character” and that he had been pressured into taking part in the plot. 

The thefts included pallets containing almost 23,000 crates of Jack Daniels (Image: Getty Images)

“He was a forklift driver. There was a tier of other people above him. He objectively did nothing more than move pallets of whiskey onto lorries,” he said.  

But jailing him for three years, Judge Janet Waddicor said: "I do not accept you became involved in this due to pressure and I find no evidence you were subject to coercion.” 

She told Barr: “I accept you were not the organiser but you played a significant and crucial role.

"But any employee who steals from their employer is committing a breach of trust. As a result of your actions this company lost a great deal of money.”