Gambling addict admits stealing over £40,000 from university

Published on Monday 23 March 2009 23:31

A GAMBLING addict stole over £40,000 from a Scottish university, a court heard yesterday.

David Mawson, 51, embezzled thousands of pounds he collected from the West of Scotland University's library, leisure centre, catering and registry departments.

The cashier was responsible for arranging for funds to be collected by an outside security firm from the campus in Hamilton, Lanarkshire.

Mawson, of Kirkintilloch, initially began stealing cash from Bell College in Hamilton to fund his gambling. He disguised his crimes by topping up banking with cash from new collections.

He was caught when plans were announced for Bell to merge with the University of Paisley in 2007. The merger created the University of the West of Scotland which has campuses in Ayr, Dumfries, Hamilton and Paisley with more than 18,000 students and almost 2,000 staff.

A series of internal audits before and after the merger revealed a major shortfall in cash.

Yesterday a hearing at Hamilton Sheriff Court saw Mawson admit to stealing 43,746.40.

Louise Beattie, the depute fiscal, told the court that Mawson had been a trusted employee at Bell College for six years before he was caught stealing.

She added: "His duties included gathering in the banking and dealings which related to the college's library, leisure centre and registry.

"In August 2007, Bell College merged with the University of Paisley and an audit was carried out. Discrepancies in the cash were then noticed.

"A member of staff spoke to the accused about this and he admitted to having a gambling addiction and that he had taken a large amount of money from the college.

"A further audit was carried out and the accused was interviewed.

"The internal audit reported back and revealed the amount of missing cash was 43,746.40

"The matter was reported to the police in February 2008 and the accused was detained and interviewed.

"During that interview the accused admitted the theft and said the amount was between 40,000 and 42,000."

Sheriff Daniel Scullion deferred sentence on Mawson until 21 April and called for background reports.