Accused hairdresser bought Ferrari, court told

Published on Tuesday 22 July 2008 14:28

A HAIRDRESSER accused of stealing £74,000 worth of hair straighteners bought a Ferrari because he was "going through a midlife crisis."

Giving evidence at his own trial, Mark McMorrine admitted he lived to the limit of his means, borrowing 25,000 and regularly going into his overdraft.

The 37-year-old stylist, who left his job at Charlie Miller's string of salons after being charged with fraudulently selling the straighteners on eBay, spent 31,000 on the car.

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court today he admitted that he sold 946 pairs of the luxury hair irons on eBay, using computers at two salons in Edinburgh and one at his Lasswade home to fix deals.

But he denied that he stole them from the same shops over the course of two years, insisting he bought them in bulk from other eBay users before selling them on at a profit.

In total, people paid him 63,000 for the products and he received almost 40,000 in payments to his bank account from Paypal – the system eBay uses to exchange money.

Online auction site eBay has no records of McMorrine purchasing any GHD products from other users which, he said, was because he would merely make contact with a buyer through the internet auction site, before sorting details and Paypal transfers in private conversations.

But he admitted that he lied to workmates about where he was getting the GHDs from and that he was unable to provide details of anyone who had sold him the products, even two years after the alleged thefts.

The hairdresser, who worked for Charlie Miller for 11 years, told two members of staff that he had bought 60 pairs of straighteners from Charlie Miller's official supplier because they were out of warranty.

He said he did not know why he said this and could only explain the lie as "a silly comment."

McMorrine's defence claim that the massive stock irregularities found by Charlie Miller are down to poor stock control.

Fiscal depute Siobhan Monks put it to McMorrine that he was lying at his trial.

She said he breached the trust of Charlie Miller and sold his own stock, using his own staff and even his own IT equipment to do so.

McMorrine, of Lasswade Court, Lasswade, Midlothian, replied: "No."

He looked relaxed as he gave evidence and laughed when he told the jury he had taken out a 25,000 loan to pay for the car because he "went through a midlife crisis."

The trial has already heard how stylist Charlie Miller hired private detectives to snoop on staff after hundreds of the irons went missing.

Staff working under McMorrine also revealed they became suspicious after he asked them to post several GHD "size, weight and shape packages" for him.

He admits he ran a massive eBay operation selling GHDs from salons in Ocean Terminal and South St Andrew Street but claims he bought them legitimately on the internet auction site before selling them for profit.

After an investigation McMorrine, who is now working at another Edinburgh salon, was suspended and resigned before being charged by police.

The charges claim Mr McMorrine stole 74,000 worth of stock between December 2004 and September 2006 before selling it for 63,000.

Mr McMorrine, represented by counsel Mark Strachan, maintains his innocence and the trial will continue tomorrow when the jury is expected to begin their deliberations.