TWO Hereford window fitters who stole more than £8,000 from a customer have both been jailed for 15 months at Worcester Crown Court.

Mark Teale and Lee Thomas, both aged 25, were given the cash after completing a job on a house.

Next day they told their manager their van had broken down and the money stolen from the vehicle as they walked to fetch petrol.

The crooks kept the truth a secret for over a year but finally pleaded guilty on the day of their trial, said Brian Dean, prosecuting.

Teale, of Kilvert Road, Hereford, and Thomas, of Westholme Road, Hereford, admitted stealing £8,050.

Judge Thomas Dillon said they had committed a serious breach of trust against their employers with none of the money being recovered.

The fitters worked for Coldseal Windows of Tewkesbury and were sent on December 9, 1999 to a job in Gloucestershire.

They had been instructed that if the customer chose to pay in cash, the firm should be notified so it could send a collector.

Instead, they received the money after finishing the job - and then decided to pull off the scam.

They claimed a thief had broken into the van while they were at a garage. The money had been stolen from a lunch box hidden under a seat.

Mr Dean said Teale eventually confessed to his girlfriend's mother that they smashed a van window themselves to make it look like a break-in and hid the cash in a hedge.

He claimed his co-defendant collected the money next day and paid it into a relation's bank account.

Teale used his share to buy a car. He later admitted the theft to his own mother.

But after police arrested the men, they maintained their innocence until the trial.

Thomas had a record of 32 previous offences for theft from vehicles, handling stolen goods and other crimes of dishonesty.

Teale's record of 17 previous offences included burglary, theft and handling.

Nicolas Cartwright, defending both men, said all the stolen money was spent.

They had now turned the corner away from crime, he claimed, and there was real optimism about their futures. They were very anxious about going to jail.

Since the theft, Teale had become the father of a baby girl which gave him a special reason to quit offending.