Michael Gridley , 26 , was jailed for a year after orchestrating a scam to steal £15,000 of goods from the Asda in Basildon , Essex , where he worked . An Asda manager orchestrated a scam that used the supermarket 's own delivery service to steal goods worth more than £15,000 - then managed to land a job at Lidl after he was sacked . Michael Gridley , 26 , was jailed after running the scam where stock including alcohol , cigarettes , DVDs , computer games and consoles were taken from the store in Basildon , Essex , where he worked . Southend Crown Court heard how the conspiracy was uncovered , following a period during which Gridley and colleague Jay Reed were under suspicion . Thomas Daniel , prosecuting , told the court that goods , ranging from televisions to baby formula , were delivered to Reed 's address and presumably sold on . He said : 'Two anonymous reports were received by Asda , one of which suggested Mr Gridley was involved in selling items believed to have been stolen , such as TVs and baby formula . 'When Mr Gridley was ill for a certain period of time , those deliveries stopped , and when he recovered they started again . 'Another email suggested stolen goods being delivered to the address of Mr Gridley 's cousin . ' But shockingly , after being sacked from the store , Gridley managed to land a managerial role at Lidl in Romford , Essex . Gridley , who was former home shopping manager of the store , was sentenced to 12 months for his leading role in a conspiracy to steal £15,852.46 worth of goods between November 2013 and April last year . The court heard that Reed and another defendant James Munyard had been pressured into taking part in the scam by Gridley , who was their superior . Stock including alcohol , cigarettes were taken from shelves and delivered to addresses using the supermarket 's own home delivery service . File photo . Section leader Reed , 23 , and Munyard , 21 , both avoided prison , but were given suspended sentences of eight and four months , respectively . Mitchell Cohen , representing Munyard , told the court that his client , whose role was confined to taking items off shelves and putting them in a crate , had attempted to be transferred from the store in order to escape Gridley 's control . James Munyard ( pictured ) avoided jail for his part in the scam . Reed was deemed to have been in a position of trust and responsibility in the criminal enterprise , but Recorder Gerard Pounder said he had a lesser role than Gridley , 26 , and Munyard even less so . Despite hearing Gridley , of Tilbury , financially supported his former partner and their two-year-old child but also his own father and grandparents , Recorder Pounder said he had no choice but to send him to prison . He said : 'You were in a position of supreme trust and you say you started this because of threats made regarding a drug debt of your cousin 's , you continued even as those threats faded , and brought other people in , too . ' Sentencing Reed to eight months imprisonment , suspended for 18 months , and 200 hours ' unpaid work , he said : 'You were in a lesser role than Mr Gridley but you were a section leader and had responsibilities . 'In that respect you were somebody who knew the system and it was to your premises these items were taken - without that and your part in the enterprise , it would not have worked . ' Munyard , who Mr Cohen said 'did n't have the spine to stand up to what he was being asked to do , ' was sentenced to four months ' imprisonment , suspended for 12 months , and 100 hours ' unpaid work . A spokesperson for Lidl told MailOnline they are unable to comment until an internal investigation has been conducted .
Michael Gridley , 26 , was jailed after running the scam at store in Basildon . He had been working as a cleaner for two years and claimed to be earning £150 per week when he ran up more than £1,000 on credit cards using his real name and address.