Paul Ware and Trevor Davies in King’s Lynn court after stealing from Block ‘N’ Mesh in Wisbech

Two men have attempted to blame each other in a “finger-pointing exercise” following a series of thefts from their own business which resulted in a loss of around £2,000.

Trevor Davies, 53, and Paul Ware, 59, wound up in court after a joint-enterprise during which they repeatedly stole from the business they both worked at.

Davies , of West Drove South in Gedney Hill, was a manager at Block ‘N’ Mesh when the offences were committed last year between January 4 and December 20, while Ware was employed as a delivery driver.

Over the course of that period, they stole a number of fence panels from the Wisbech company, with screenshotted text messages showing them organising a series of unauthorised deliveries.

The duo appeared at King’s Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where they both pleaded guilty to theft by employee.

However, in what was called a “finger-pointing exercise”, they both attempted to blame each other for the ordeal.

Crown prosecutor Colette Harper said that Davies dismissed Ware from his role at Block ‘N’ Mesh after he made a whistleblowing complaint against him.

Ware, of Sandringham Avenue in Wisbech, had reportedly raised concerns about the sale of the fence panels, which often took place outwith normal working hours, because of a lack of procedural paperwork.

Some of the items were found being sold on the Facebook marketplace, which is not normal for the company.

Davies was eventually suspended from his managerial role and was subjected to a gross misconduct hearing.

Throughout 2023, a total of 90 fence panels were stolen from the business. They are believed to have been worth around £90 each.

The business estimated that its losses were therefore worth around £2,000.

Mitigating for Davies, solicitor Andrew Cogan said: “Sir, I think it is fair to say that each of these defendants have blamed each other.”

He pointed out that Davies has not been before a court since 1992.

Tiffany Meredith, mitigating for Ware, said her client insisted that Davies initiated the thefts, with no fence panels loaded into delivery vehicles without his authorisation.

She said Ware was a relatively new delivery driver at the company, having started in 2022, and and was offered overtime and individual payments of £100 to carry out the illicit deliveries.

Ms Meredith said Ware was given multiple reasons by Davies as to why the proper paperwork was not being filled out.

“He did not know exactly what was in that delivery,” she added.

“As Mr Cogan has pointed out, it is a little bit of a finger-pointing exercise.”

Magistrates asked the probation service to carry out full pre-sentence reports on Davies and Ware before they learn their fates.

They will return to the King’s Lynn court on July 25 to be sentenced, and have been released on bail with conditions stating they must not contact each other.