Cash Generator branch boss jailed after selling stolen goods worth £50k

James Devlin, 53, manager of the chain's South Bridge shop, pleaded guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court but claimed he had simply turned a blind eye to the scam.

The court heard a false customer account had been set up in the shop to deal with stolen or reset property.

Fiscal depute James O'Reilly told the court that it had resulted in "a large number of stolen goods" being passed through the business.

Devlin, of Ferniehill Avenue in the Capital, who had been in charge of the shop since 2005, admitted acting with others in the scheme between May 6, 2006, and August 24, 2010.

Sentence was deferred until yesterday for background reports.

The court heard police had gone to the shop in August last year to check the register. They found a number of transactions that appeared suspicious.

Mr O'Reilly said Devlin had invented a customer called John Davidson and told the staff to destroy any paperwork relating to the goods.

The items were then sold on and the money went into Mr Davidson's account.

Devlin told the police he thought the amount that had gone into the account was around 10,000.

Mr O'Reilly said, however, that people who took the goods into the shop received only a quarter of their worth and it appeared that amounted to 12,500. This meant that the actual value of the goods was around 50,000.

Defence solicitor Kim Schofield said Devlin had been "very candid" when interviewed by the police.

"He didn't try to shy away from anything, but he allowed the matter to carry on," she said.

"He was not on the shop floor buying and selling, but he was aware of what was going on."

Sheriff McColl said: "It is my understanding it was his scheme.

"That is a high degree of criminality as far as I am concerned."

Jailing Devlin for eight months, Sheriff McColl told him that although he had no previous convictions, the offence was so serious that only a custodial sentence was appropriate.