£40k barometer makes £57 on eBay

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A £40,000 barometer belonging to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) was sold on eBay for £57, a court has heard.

Denbigh magistrates heard the barometer was being taken to an airbase by courier, but employee Darren Thomas, who denied theft, found it in a bin.

The case against Mr Thomas, 35, from Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire, was dropped after his former boss declined to give details of the firm's disposal policy.

The barometer was recovered after a Met Office worker spotted the sale.

Prosecutor Helena Jackson said the precision instrument was made in 1975 and had been recalibrated by Met Office staff in Exeter, Devon.

It was to be returned to the MoD air traffic control base at Llanbedr, Gwynedd, but somehow ended up in a bin at Cooper Carriers in March 2007.

Serial number

Mr Thomas took it from the bin and advertised it on the auction site, where the successful bidder - a man from Guernsey - paid just £57 for it.

But the sale had also been spotted by a Met office employee who asked the seller for the instrument's serial number.

After checks, the barometer was found to belong to the Met Office, which is part of the MoD.

Anthony Roberts, a manager at Cooper Carriers at Kinmel Bay, Conwy, gave evidence at court on Thursday, but declined to answer questions about the company's policy on disposal of leftover items.

Prosecutor Ms Jackson asked for the case against Mr Thomas to be dismissed.