Man Arrested for Stealing More Than $450,000 Worth of Whisky Says He Was Paid Just $135 for the Theft

A employee loads packs of bottles June 20, 2013, at a wine factory in Lilo near Tbilisi. A man in Scotland has been sentenced after stealing whisky worth more than $450,000. (Photo: VANO SHLAMOV/AFP via Getty Images)

A man who stole £336,000 ($453,748) of whisky from a truck yard in Lanarkshire, Scotland, said that he was paid just £100 ($135) in cash by a “gangland boss” as a reward for carrying out the theft.

A gang drove off with a truck filled with the whisky, but the truck contained a tracker, which police used to catch them five miles away after a worker raised an alarm.

Once officers arrived, they saw that the cab of the truck had been detached, and the trailer containing the whiskey had been attached to another tractor unit, according to the Daily Record.

Only the driver was there when police arrived, but they found DNA from Colin Stephenson, 33. Stephenson, a father of two, is the man who claims he was paid £100. Dominic Kearney, Stephenson’s lawyer, said Stephenson was out of work and under financial pressure.

Kearney added that Stephenson “was not aware of what was going to be in that trailer but he will now pay the price for that and realises it was a stupid thing to do.”

Stephenson, a repeat offender, confessed to the crime and was sentenced to 32 months in prison.

“Over many years, you have been involved in similar offending, some of which has resulted in significant sentences,” Sheriff Andrew McIntyre told Stephenson.

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