Smugglers paid him to ride in their lorries, while they were doing their smuggling of illegal spirits (whisky and brandy), while visibly wearing his army uniform, hence making a search less likely.

The House of Lords held that the Crown could retain the money for many reasons, including that Mr Reading was in a fiduciary position.

He says: "In my judgment, it is a principle of law that if a servant takes advantage of his service by violating his duty of honesty and good faith, to make a prom for himself, in this sense, that the assets of which he has control, or the facilities which he enjoys, or the position which he occupies, are the real cause of his obtaining the money, as distinct from being the mere opportunity for getting it, that is to say, if they play the predominant part in his obtaining the money, then he is accountable for it to the master.

It is a case where the servant has unjustly enriched himself by virtue of his service without his master's sanction.

The learned judge however also says: "There was not, in this case, a fiduciary relationship; and this man Reading was not acting in the course of his employment."

He nevertheless was using his position as a Sergeant in His Majesty's Army and the uniform to which his rank entitled him to obtain the money which he received.