FOR 20 years, washing machine giants Hotpoint lost hundreds of appliances despatched to a service depot in Renfrew when employees found a way to steal machines right under the noses of bosses.

The scam went unnoticed, a court was told, until a newly-appointed manager, who once served as a Glasgow policeman, suspected something was wrong.

A jury trial at Paisley Sheriff Court heard how two men at the Renfrew depot, in Blythswood Industrial Estate, operated their lucrative sideline through an electrical dealer.

Company forms requesting free replacement machines for fictitious dissatisfied customers were sent to Hotpoint's HQ at Peterborough where the orders were processed and appliances forwarded to Renfrew from the main Scottish warehouse at Grangemouth.

The third party involved - dealer James Henighen - was then contacted and told to go with his van after hours to uplift the goods.

Roderick Dunlop, owner of Domestic Services (Scotland) in Dumbarton Road, Glasgow, who sold machines brought to him by Henighen, was found guilty of resetting stolen Hotpoint appliances between 1985 and 1993.

Sheriff Neil Douglas deferred sentence until February 12 and called for social inquiry reports and a community service assessment.

The jury was told how two managers were dismissed and subsequently appeared in court last August to plead guilty to theft of goods during a two year period. George Elder, 58, and Robert Mooney, 52, were fined a total of #3500 as they had paid back almost #54,000 to the company.

Dunlop, 45, of Gartconnel Road, Bearsden, Glasgow, denied resetting stolen domestic appliances, over a 21-year period between 1971 and 1993.

The jury heard how he had a long-standing relationship with dealer James Henighen.

Then, in 1992, when police announced they were investigating thefts from Hotpoint's service depot, Henighen wanted to clear his conscience and made a death-bed confession to his son.

Dunlop had his bail conditions continued and was ordered to appear in person for sentence in three weeks.