Boxing champion jailed for stealing £33k from OAP

Vulnerable Marjorie Mills placed thousands of pounds of cash into the care of the Post Office after she was attacked in her Edinburgh home years ago.

But amateur fighter Nadeem Amjid, 26, stole thousands of pounds of her money while working at the city’s Colinton Mains Post Office.

His scam continued for 19 months and was only uncovered after Marjorie’s daughter checked her financial statements in May 2012 and discovered that the OAP’s nest egg had been depleted.

When she asked Marjorie, the pensioner told her horrified relatives she had only been withdrawing £50 at a time.

Detectives later discovered that Amjid had been accessing her account and had helped himself to £33,646.

Amjid pleaded guilty to fraud at an earlier court appearance. Sentence had been deferred so that Sheriff Paul Arthurson QC could obtain reports about Amjid’s character.

Yesterday, after hearing how Amjid stole the cash to fund a gambling problem, Sheriff Arthurson decided to send the first offender to prison.

He added: “Taking into account the nature of the crime, the age of the complainer and the fact that the complainer is vulnerable, the only disposal available to me is to impose a custodial term.”

During earlier proceedings, Amjid, of Elliot Place, Edinburgh, had pleaded guilty to a charge of fraudulently obtaining cash from Marjorie on various occasions between October 29, 2010, and May 16, 2012.

Prosecution lawyer Isobel Clark told the court that Amjid served Marjorie on several occasions.

The depute procurator fiscal said that he noticed the pensioner only withdrew £50 on each occasion. Amjid started to manipulate banking records when he served Marjorie.

Ms Clark said that the OAP would be given £50 and a receipt that informed her that she had withdrawn that amount. But Amjid was actually withdrawing £650 from the account – and pocketing the £600.

Ms Clark added: “The complainer had once been attacked in her home. It was her family who advised her to deposit the money into the savings account.”

Ms Clark said Post Office bosses had since reimbursed Marjorie’s account with the amount stolen.

Defence solicitor John Good told the court that Amjid took the pensioner’s cash to pay for his gambling problem.

He added: “There was a gambling issue. He has not yet accessed the self-help and counselling services that are available to him.”