Music store employee from Banbury stole stock worth £27,000

Christopher Riton-Hayward’s illegal sideline was uncovered when his boss at Banbury shop One Man Band discovered that he was unable to sell a customer their chosen keyboard.

There were apparently none available, despite the store’s computer showing there were three in stock.

Prosecuting, Jay Singh told Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Friday (September 1) that the store owner searched eBay for the items.

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Three keyboards had been sold by an eBay seller going by the name PurpleRaven42 and who also appeared to be based in Banbury.

The final piece of the jigsaw came when 35-year-old Riton-Hayward’s boss went to turn down some music that was playing from the staff member’s computer.

His Spotify account through which the tunes were apparently being played had an identical username to the eBay account.

He was reported to the police. Further investigations revealed that he had stolen musical equipment with a trade value of more than £13,000 but a retail value in excess of £27,000.

Riton-Hayward, who gave a postal address in central Banbury, pleaded guilty to a single count of theft by an employee.

Recommending that the case was committed to the crown court for sentencing, Ms Singh said: “This is a breach of trust [and] the offending had been going on for some time.”

She suggested the offence carried a starting point of two years’ imprisonment, which was outside of the magistrates’ sentencing powers.

The bench sent the case to Oxford Crown Court for sentencing. Riton-Hayward was bailed to appear before a judge at the St Aldates’ courthouse on September 28.

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