A MAN accused of involvement in a £102,000 Pirelli tyre theft plot has gone on trial at Carlisle Crown Court.

Graham Wait, 57, is alleged to have conspired with another man, Mark Claxton, to steal from Pirelli Tyres UK between August 2013 and May 2014.

Wagon driver Wait has pleaded not guilty to the allegation and denies any wrongdoing.

At the crown court yesterday jurors heard evidence from prosecution witness Mr Claxton. They were told he had already admitted conspiring to steal tyres and is awaiting sentence.

Mr Claxton said at the time of a conspiracy which allegedly involved Wait, he was a shift supervisor at DHL’s Dalston Road distribution centre in Carlisle. He was in charge of 400,000 tyres at a warehouse from which Pirelli tyres were shipped out of the city in trailers.

Mr Claxton got to know Wait, who was a driver for a Scottish-based delivery company. The court heard trailers containing tyres would be transported from the south of England to Carlisle. On arrival in Carlisle, some tyres would be unloaded and others would be kept on for onward supply to Scotland.

Wait would collect a trailer laden with Pirelli tyres from the DHL depot and transport it north of the border.

But Mr Claxton told the court his own finances were in a dire financial state in mid-2013.

As a result, he said he agreed to “unofficially” supply Pirelli tyres which he claimed were requested by Wait. These, he stated, came from a surplus pile in a corner of the warehouse for which there were no official records.

Because he was in debt, Mr Claxton said he would take tyres from this pile – some of which were worth £300 – and supply them to Wait for £40 each.

“Graham would text or ring me to tell me what tyres he wanted me to put on his trailer,” Mr Claxton said in evidence.

“Once we had unloaded the Carlisle tyres, I would put them (unrecorded) tyres on the back of that trailer. Graham would come and pick up the trailer. He would check the tyres were there, seal it up and pay me cash for those tyres.”

Mr Claxton claimed the handover of money and tyres was done covertly, away from security cameras.

He knew it was wrong and expressed concerns about the allegedly dodgy deal. “I didn’t expect it to be going on for as long as it did,” he said. “It was getting ridiculous.”

Wait, of Mill Road, Bathgate, denies he was involved in the conspiracy.

The trial continues.