Manager denies selling salon's equipment on eBay

Published on Monday 7 July 2008 22:15

A HAIRDRESSING salon manager accused of stealing equipment worth £76,000 used his work computer to sell them on eBay, a court heard yesterday.

Directors of Edinburgh-based Charlie Miller Hairdressing said they contacted the internet auction site after they discovered GHD straightening irons were being offered for sale online.

Mark McMorrine, manager of their Ocean Terminal salon, had set up two accounts and had been using his work computer to trade, they said. He had not told his bosses he was selling online until confronted about the eBay sales – then he claimed he had sourced his stock from other internet users, Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard.

McMorrine, 37, of Lasswade, Midlothian, denies stealing hairdressing irons and products from salons in South St Andrew Street, Edinburgh, and Ocean Terminal, Leith, between December 2004 and September 2006, and obtaining 63,000 by fraud by selling them on eBay.

In September 2006, police and private investigators were called in, and company director Joshua Miller told the court two accounts on eBay matched the private registration numbers of McMorrine's car and motorbike and were based in Midlothian

Many of the transactions took place late at night when the salons were closed, Mr Miller said.

The trial continues.