IT specialist convicted of stealing hospital computers

An IT specialist convicted of stealing equipment from a hospital and selling it on eBay must serve a 250 hours community order.

Scott Gill must also pay his former employer, Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, compensation of £5000 after pleading guilty to the theft of its equipment.

His conviction follows an investigation by police and NHS fraud specialists.

Gill, who is from Worksop, was employed as an IT specialist at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals  from September 2005. An anonymous tip off was received via NHS Protect’s Fraud & Corruption Reporting Line which alleged that Gill had stolen computer equipment from the trust and was selling it on eBay.

Further investigations revealed that the goods sold on eBay matched the serial numbers of computer equipment used by the trust, some of which were reported stolen by Gill during an alleged burglary.

He was sentenced at Doncaster Magistrates Court, South Yorkshire this month and must serve a 250 hour community order.

Mark Bishop, counter fraud specialist at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said Gill had committed the crime for his own personal gain.

“Hospital equipment is precious and should not have been abused in this way. This conviction will hopefully act as a deterrent to others who might consider stealing from the National Health Service”.

Kevin Cane, area anti-fraud manager at NHS Protect, said: “NHS Protect fully supports the actions of the trust in this case. Criminals should not assume that the theft of items like this will go undetected”.