An easyJet flight attendant stole more than £30,000-worth of tobacco to fund his spiralling cocaine habit. Lyren Maddix, 29, was a 'valued' cabin crew member and worked at the company for more than eight years.
In the early hours of January 28 last year, a colleague realised crates had been broken into at Manchester Airport, where Maddix was based. Packets of Amber Leaf tobacco to be sold on flights had been taken.
CCTV evidence
CCTV footage showed Maddix was responsible, Manchester Crown Court heard. Bosses later found out he went to the airport on a day off, in full uniform, and used his security pass to get into restricted areas. He even entered an aircraft.
Maddix was arrested at home later that day. He hasn't worked for easyJet since, having got a job at Tesco. Two packets of tobacco were found as officers detained him.
Pattern of theft
Police later discovered he had stolen tobacco 26 times between August 4, 2024 and January 28, 2025. The value of the items taken totalled £30,082.
Maddix told police he sold the packs to a shop to pay off drug debt and buy more cocaine. He 'downplayed' the number of times he'd stolen from his employer. He later admitted, in full, what he had done.
Court proceedings
A judge said Maddix was likely stealing 'so frequently' he 'lost count'. Having pleaded guilty to one count of theft by employee, Maddix was handed a suspended prison sentence on Wednesday (August 5).
Besty Hindle, defending, said Maddix had no previous convictions. She said he 'adored' his job at easyJet and was a 'valued member of staff'.
Ms Hindle said her client began struggling with mental ill-health and 'wasn't given the support he thought he should have been'. Maddix, she added, started his drugs to cope, taking cocaine 'on an almost daily basis'.
"His habit became out of control and those drugs had to be paid for," Ms Hindle said, adding that Maddix 'didn't even realise how much he had taken' when confronted about the stolen goods.
She added: "He was adamant he hadn't taken that much, but he accepts now he certainly must have." Maddix has a 'depressive disorder' diagnosis and has previously tried to taken his own life, Ms Hindle said.
She said he was enjoying his new job at Tesco, where bosses have 'given him a lot more assistance than his previous employer'.
Judge's remarks
Recorder Ben Lawrence told Maddix he accepted he has 'had some sort of mental health difficulties for a significant period of time' and that he was at a 'particular low point' at the time of the offences.
But he added: "You didn't have your hand in the till for the odd £20 note. You stole a very significant amount of money over a very significant period of time - and you spent it primarily on drugs."
He said Maddix was afforded a 'high degree of trust... not just between employer and employee but as a member of cabin crew with identity documents which could get [him] into areas of the airport and aircraft that people ought not to go unless they had good reason'.
Recorder Lawrence said he believed Maddix had 'good prospects of rehabilitation'. That, along with a delay in sentencing and 'reasonably strong mitigation', meant he was 'just about persuaded' to suspend a prison sentence.
Sentence
Maddix, of Huxloe Rise, Northampton, was handed a term of a year and four months, suspended for two years. He was ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work and 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days; and pay costs of £300.
Following the hearing, an easyJet spokesperson said: "We fully supported the police with this case and the individual hasn't worked for easyJet since their arrest over 18 months ago."
