Andrew Roberts, who worked for West Yorkshire Police, was jailed for four years in April 2021 after stealing £100,000 from police stores over a five-year period.

A former West Yorkshire Police station property manager currently in jail for stealing more than £100,000 over a five-year period has been ordered to pay back almost £60,000 in compensation.

Andrew Roberts, 56, was handed a four-year custodial term at Leeds Crown Court in April 2021 for seven counts of fraud by abusing his position.

During his period of offending, Roberts took more than 200 items from Huddersfield police station - including £5,645 received for safekeeping by officers who had been called to the home of an elderly woman who later died.

He was only caught after he gave his daughter six stolen 50-euro notes which he did not know were counterfeit. Her attempts to exchange these triggered an investigation which led to Roberts's arrest in June 2017.

It was also established during the proceedings that two cases were dropped as a result of Roberts contaminating the evidence.

The former station property manager has now been ordered to pay back £59,816.28 in compensation, after the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division (PCD) and West Yorkshire Police Financial Investigation Unit worked to identify his assets.

A Confiscation Order for the above amount was secured on January 13; Roberts's total criminal benefit was £166,824.16, while monies from his pension and an interest in the matrimonial home were among the assets identified.

Roberts must pay this amount within three months; failure to do so could see him receive a 12-month default period of imprisonment.

Adrian Foster, Chief Crown Prosecutor of the CPS PCD, said: “Andrew Roberts stole money from evidence at a police station where he was employed. His greed had a direct impact on justice with two cases being dropped after it became clear that he had tampered with the evidence.

“Where criminals fail to pay the orders made against them, the CPS will robustly pursue them for the money they owe, asking that default prison sentences are imposed where necessary."