Jail for fraudster who took £30k from colleague

Published on Friday 6 November 2009 10:07

A FRAUDSTER who conned a colleague out of £30,000 after telling her he wanted to leave his wife to be with her has been jailed for 15 months.

Alexander Shields also told Lynn McFarlane, whom he met while working at Scottish Water at Edinburgh's Buckstone Terrace, his partner was trying to take his daughter away from the UK.

But 26-year-old Shields did not have a wife or daughter and used the cash he was given to feed his gambling habit.

Sheriff Neil MacKinnon told Shields yesterday: "Your behaviour in this matter was not only dishonest it was calculating and callous, taking advantage of the trust given to you by the complainer."

At an earlier hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court fiscal depute Ruth Ross-Davie said Shields also told Ms McFarlane he owed money to loan sharks who were threatening him and also sending text messages to him which contained threats against her.

The court heard whenever Ms McFarlane expressed any doubt he would reassure her that he wanted to be with her as soon as his matrimonial problems were resolved.

Eventually Ms McFarlane went to police and by this time Shields was no longer working at Scottish Water.

The court also heard Shields never had a romantic relationship with Ms McFarlane.

Ms Ross-Davie said Ms McFarlane was naive and inexperienced with relationships and had taken out loans as well as being left with an overdraft of 6,000.

Shields, of Philip Avenue, Bathgate, admitted forming a fraudulent scheme, making false claims and obtaining approximately 30,000 from Lynn McFarlane by fraud.

Defence agent Peter O'Neill said: "This offence was rooted in his gambling addiction."