Airport worker 'hoarded lost items'

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A man who ran an airport lost-property office made extra work for travel insurance firms after helping himself to 14 wallets, 11 mobile phones and two iPods in a little over six months, a court heard.

Police found valuables lost on budget flights to and from Stansted at Simon Hepper's home in Dunmow, Essex, after a sting operation, Chelmsford Crown Court was told.

Hepper, 50, denies 33 counts of theft between November 2005 and June 2006. Jurors were told that police launched an investigation after becoming suspicious because lost property was not being found.

Prosecutor Gerrard Pounder said Hepper was arrested after a wallet planted on a plane by police disappeared. Mr Pounder said the wallet was later found at Hepper's home near the airport, along with other items that owners had taken out travel insurance on including BlackBerrys and digital cameras.

The jury was told that police tested Hepper's system by using an undercover officer who planted a wallet - which contained cards, contact details and cash - on a plane. The officer then called Hepper's office to ask if the wallet had been handed in.

Hepper denied any knowledge of the wallet even though documentation showed that it had been found on the plane and given to his office, said Mr Pounder.

He was arrested and police found a hoard of missing property at his home, Mr Pounder added.

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