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Ross-shire bank teller avoids prison after embezzling £42,000 from Bank of Scotland; Inverness Sheriff Court heard he pocketed cash totalling £17,000 and deposited it in banks in Inverness and Dingwall, and later transferred £25,000 at the Gairloch branch where he worked; the money was used to fuel his gambling


By Court Reporter

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Ross Jackson embezzled £42,000.
Ross Jackson embezzled £42,000.

A ROSS-SHIRE bank teller who embezzled £42,000 from his employers and then gambled it away over a couple of months avoided being jailed today (Thursday).

Inverness Sheriff Court was told that Ross Jackson (30) of Faolin, Gairloch, had got into so much debt he pocketed cash totalling £17,000 and banked it in various branches including Inverness and Dingwall.

But when he lost that, he transferred another £25,000 into his own bank account at the Bank of Scotland in the Wester Ross village where he worked. The court heard he hoped he would win enough to repay the bank.

His dishonesty was quickly discovered and further checks revealed he had been taking cash from bank bags but recording a different figure in the paperwork to cover up the embezzlement.

Earlier this month, Jackson admitted the offence, which was committed between February 2019 and March 15, 2019 and sentence was deferred for a background report.

Sheriff Margaret Neilson told him: "Taking into account your previous good character and the fact the money has been repaid, I can deal with this by a community based sentence"

She ordered him to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work.

Defence solicitor Duncan Henderson told the court: "His gambling addiction led him down the wrong path. It has cost him his job and his relationship, He told the investigators there was money missing even before they had discovered it. Thanks to the generosity of his family, the money has been paid back."

Fiscal depute Alex Swain said the bank investigated Jackson's personal financial situation and discovered his monthly repayments were about the equivalent of what he earned and he had virtually nothing left for everyday living expenses.

He also owed £6000 in credit card debt.

When questioned he admitted that his debts had snowballed and he gambled in the hope of repaying the money he took from his winnings. But he kept losing.

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