A council road sweeper from Wales has pleaded guilty to theft of diesel and careless driving after driving his vehicle at a detective.
Gwynedd Council suspected Ian Ellis, 52, of Deiniolen, of syphoning fuel from a council vehicle and so hired Michael Naughton, a private detective, to follow him.
Mr Naughton eventually confronted Mr Ellis while he was behind the wheel of his sweeper. Mr Ellis proceeded to drive at Mr Naughton while the detective filmed the incident on his phone.
Caernarfon Magistrates' Court has ordered Mr Ellis to do 120 hours of unpaid work. It also fined him £300 and eight penalty points were put on his licence.
A Gwynedd Council spokesperson said: ‘Gwynedd Council takes public safety and the theft of property very seriously.
‘We are therefore pleased with the outcome of today’s hearing and satisfied with the sentence. We are grateful to North Wales Police and the magistrates for their work.
‘We can confirm that Mr Ellis no longer works for Gwynedd Council.’
