'eBay addict' steals from second practice

Former optometrist Sanjit Singh Bansal who was struck off in February 2008 (News 15.02.08) for selling his employer's property on eBay has been sentenced to another 200 hours' community service for a similar offence at a different practice by Sevenoaks Magistrates' Court.

Bansal, who stole £1,500 worth of equipment and sunglasses from Niall O'Kane Optometrists in Strood, Kent where he had worked for 10 years, pleaded guilty to the first offence at Maidstone Crown Court in September 2006, claiming he had an eBay addiction. Having been struck off by the General Optical Council for 'a clear and flagrant breach of trust and theft from an employer', his counsel said that Bansal had addressed his eBay addiction.