A warehouse worker at Stansted Airport’s Fed Ex carrier company, who stole uncut diamonds, jewellery and mobile phones worth £34,000, was jailed for a year today (Tuesday).

Czech Michal Dvorak, 34, of Saffron Way, Little Canfield, near Dunmow, pleaded guilty to one offence of theft between December 14 last year and February 23.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard that Dvorak, who had been employed by Fed Ex for two years, stole high value packages and then didn’t know what to do with them and simply hoarded them.

Police recovered all the stolen items, except for a £153 Casio watch. Dvorak’s haul was hidden in a suitcase at his home.

Customs labels on the outside of the packages showed what was inside.

Prosecutor Nicola May said the thefts came to light on February 20 when Fed Ex was alerted that a customer tracking of a package sent from India to the UK showed it had not moved from Fed Ex since it arrived on February 15. It contained 17 rings worth £5,267.

CCTV was examined and Dvorak was seen on February 15 dropping a parcel on the floor and an hour later removing it, leaving the building and returning without it.

The prosecutor said Dvorak’s method was to throw items down, cover them with other packaging and take them to his car later.

When he was arrested and his home in Little Canfield searched, officers found the 17 rings.

They also recovered diamonds sent to the UK for cutting and setting. There were paper wraps containing four diamonds worth £5,769, another parcel containing £18,568 worth of diamonds and a single diamond parcel.

In addition there was: a £612 white metal chain necklace - the first item stolen on December 15, 2014; a ring box with a £3,525 diamond set ring; and four mobiles, including Apple Iphones and a Google Nexus 5.

When interviewed, Dvorak told police he hadn’t done anything like that before and he didn’t know what to do with the diamonds having taken them. He added that his mother had cancer and he initially thought he might buy something or use the money to look after her.

Mitigating, Robert James said Dvorak struggled to explain why he had done it.

He said Dvorak’s life was perhaps going into chaos following the break-up of his marriage, the loss of his home and his mother being diagnosed with cancer.

Mr James said: “He really wasn’t thinking straight. He didn’t really know where it was going. He has hoarded these items and didn’t know what he was supposed to be doing with raw diamonds and how he could possibly dispose of them. He had bitten off more than he could chew.”

The lawyer added: “It was doomed to failure because of complex security procedures these companies have.”

Recorder Peter Sussman QC, jailing Dvorak for 12 months, said: “This was a breach of a high degree of trust. People who work in airports such as Stansted, where goods are coming in, have to be of the highest probity and are trusted to a very high extent.

“These are thefts repeated over a couple of months and you were deliberating selecting goods of high value or easily disposed of.”