A THIEF who was instructed to fix a man's car instead stripped it and sold the parts, a court heard.
William Thomson, 23, of Marvins Close in Tilshead, stole scrap from a Land Rover Discovery which belonged to Daniel Cogman on May 23.
Thomson was recommended to Mr Cogman by a group of off-roaders and was employed at the time but he was 'fixing' 4x4s privately.
Rather than carrying out a repair on the vehicle, he stripped it, sold £2.5k worth of parts and dumped the vehicle.
He appeared at Salisbury Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, July 16, where he pleaded guilty to theft by finding.
Thomson was sentenced to a 12-month community order which requires him to complete 90 hours of unpaid work.
Magistrates also ordered him to pay £2.5k in compensation to Mr Cogman in full by September 15.
No order for costs or surcharge was made due to the defendant's means and magistrates wanted compensation to take priority.
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