A disgruntled dustman stole a payment card and fuel worth £424.76 because he wanted South Holland District Council to give him the sack.
Simon Gilbert (31), of Thames Road, Spalding, acted in the way he did because he couldn’t budget on his monthly pay and wanted to be paid weekly.
Spalding magistrates heard Gilbert got his wish – the council ended his employment – and he has found another job where he will be paid weekly.
At a hearing on May 16, Gilbert pleaded not guilty to theft of a fuel card from South Holland District Council on March 27 but changed his plea to guilty on Thursday.
At the earlier hearing, he admitted three counts of fraudulently obtaining fuel from a service station at Whaplode – once on March 30 and twice on April 1.
Marie Stace, prosecuting, said Gilbert was one of two refuse collectors working with a driver on March 27.
The fuel card was kept in the cab and the driver reported it missing at the end of the day.
On the first occasion, Gilbert used the card at Whaplode Service Station at 1pm to obtain fuel worth £98.65.
Then he drew fuel from the same service station twice on the same day – taking an amount worth £87.89 at 1.51pm and then £238.32 at 8pm.
Miss Stace said CCTV showed Gilbert using the card.
Solicitor Mark Hudson, mitigating, said Gilbert found it a lot easier to budget on weekly rather than monthly pay.
He said it didn’t make sense for Gilbert to terminate his employment with South Holland District Council in the way he did.
“This is a person who is depressed because all he needed to do was simply stop working, quit his job,” said Mr Hudson. “But he didn’t – he did this. He wasn’t thinking straight. He always knew he was going to get found out and he has lost his job.”
The court adjourned sentence to June 20 for a probation report. Gilbert’s unconditional bail was extended.