Thieving baggage handlers face jail

SIXTEEN baggage handlers from Charles de Gaulle Airport are facing jail after being convicted of a €450,000 series of thefts.

Employed by Air France company Trac-Piste, they stole dozens of laptops, iPhones and iPods, video cameras, jewellery, perfume, satnavs, cash and travellers cheques.

The men’s haul also included more than one hundred pairs of designer shoes.

In all, more than 500 passengers were robbed between 2007 and 2008.

The baggage handlers, aged between 24 and 48, admitted the thefts. They targeted flights they felt were the “richest”; towards Switzerland or northern Italy.

Prosecutors have asked for jail sentences of between six months and a year and fines of between €1,000 and €3,000.

However, lawyers for Air France have demanded heavier fines of €117,500, plus €300,000 for the damage to its image and €200,000 for lost business.

Sentence will be delivered on November 3.
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