Butcher's CCTV trap caught thief
Brian Hossack • Published 14 Nov 2009 14:00
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A CROOKED counter assistant was snared stealing from a shop - after the owner set up a high-tech hidden camera to catch her red-handed.
Elizabeth Moore, 55, right, was captured on specially-fitted CCTV taking cash from the till of Terry Meade Butchers in Gourock's Shore Street.
Greenock Sheriff Court heard the canny butcher also gave friends marked notes to buy meat with in a bid to catch the culprit after noticing takings were down over a number of weeks.
Moore pleaded guilty to stealing £160 when she appeared this week, but was spared prison by Sheriff Gerard MacMillan.
He told her: "This was a nasty, horrible thing to do and must have brought suspicion on other people who worked in the shop.
"You now have to live with the fact you are a convicted thief and it should be of great shame to you that someone of your age comes to court and loses your good name.
"You are a first offender with financial difficulties and I don't think this merits prison, so I will defer sentence for you to be of good behaviour for 12 months."
Depute fiscal Lindy Scaife had told the court CCTV footage showed Moore acting suspiciously in the shop, before opening the till and stuffing notes in her pocket.
She added: "Three days later, the butcher gave a friend notes he had noted the serial numbers from and asked them to pose as a customer. The money was handed over but when the till was checked, it was missing. Police were called and the money, along with other bank notes, was handed over by the accused, who made full admissions."
Defence solicitor Alasdair Hendry said his client, of Kintyre Terrace, Greenock, had turned to crime after running up debts when her husband and son became unemployed.
He added: "Mrs Moore knows this was a serious breach of trust.
"She tried to consolidate these loans and this only made her situation worse, with her debt growing. She was handling cash on a daily basis and succumbed to temptation. She was not stealing to fund a lavish lifestyle but to keep the family afloat.
"She lost her job but, to her credit, has managed to find employment and is earning £800 per month."
This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 14 Nov 09
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