THE actions of two workers at a parcel delivery depot sparked an international investigation over missing items of jewellery.

But for a long time United Parcel Service (UPS) could not pinpoint where the Pandora jewellery packages, imported from a German distributor, were going missing.

Durham Crown Court heard the world-wide company brought in investigators to try to discover how and where the distinctive items of small jewellery were being mislaid, or pilfered.

Even when the company narrowed it down to its sorting depot at Sedgefield, County Durham, it was some time before the spotlight fell on employees Carl Anthony Edwards and Andrew Wayman, leaving suspicion hanging over the other 50 members of staff.

Martin Towers, prosecuting, said UPS had to go to the lengths of upgrading its on-site cctv coverage as well as diverting staff from other tasks to help trawl through hours’ of footage.

The lead investigator, Lee Wilson, eventually came up with a theory, backed up in subsequent admission by Edwards, that it began when the packages containing Pandora products arrived at the initial sorting stage at the depot.

“Instead of diverting Pandora packages to the high value section, as he should have done, he would send them to Mr Wayman, who would take them to an area out of view of the cameras, remove them from the packages and conceal them in the lining of his jacket.

“They would remain there until he finished his shift and then he would leave with them from the depot.”

Police searched Edwards’ home and found seven Pandora packages, which were confirmed as among those that went missing from the depot.

“Some were still in their original bar code bags.”

Mr Towers said it became apparent that Edwards was selling Pandora items on Ebay, since 2014.

Having made initial denials, Edwards, 41, of Coronation Road, Chilton, County Durham, admitted conspiracy to commit theft, at a hearing earlier this year.

Thirty-year-old Wayman, of Salvin Terrace, Fishburn, denied the allegation at the same hearing, in February, but, on the day his scheduled trial was due to start, he pleaded ‘guilty’ to the charge.

Andrew Petterson, for Edwards, said his admission was on the basis that he took £13,118-worth of Pandora products, not including the contents of four further packages for which no value was obtained.

Ian West, for Wayman, said he accepted responsibility for £7,820-worth of Pandora items, not including the value of two further packages.

Recorder Neil Barker said their activities almost cost UPS its contract with the Pandora distributing company, as well as jeopardising its reputation, and putting their colleagues at the depot under suspicion.

Edwards, who is unable to perform unpaid community work, was given a one year prison sentence, suspended for two years, but must pay £8,000 compensation within six months, by way of a loan from a relative, which he must pay back.

Wayman was given a ten-month sentence, suspended for two years, during which he must perform 140-hours’ unpaid work and pay £800 compensation within a year.