Former special police constable ordered to repay cash embezzled from Beauly branch of Harry Gow
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Michael McDiarmid (33) was spared a jail sentence when he appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court.
The court had heard earlier how McDiarmid pleaded guilty to embezzling a total of £2403.17 from Harry Gow in Beauly and elsewhere while working as an employee for the business.
The offence dates back to July 2016.
As well as being ordered to repay the money McDiarmid, a first offender, was also sentenced to carry out 150 hours of unpaid community work.
Sheriff Gary Aitken told him: “This was a gross breach of your employer’s trust.
“It merits a custodial sentence but I am narrowly persuaded to impose a community-based disposal.”
"However, if you breach it then you will come back here and it is almost inevitable you will be sent to prison.”
Fiscal depute David Morton told the court that McDiarmid, of Keppoch Road, Inverness, had been employed as a driver for the award-winning Highland bakery at the time he carried out his crime.
Among other duties he was required to collect the takings from shops at the end of the day at both Beauly and Tain.
Mr Morton said: “The funds were left in a safe and the drivers, who worked alone, had access to that safe.
“But managers started to realise after July that there were discrepancies and alerted Harry Gow’s headquarters in Inverness.
“CCTV was reviewed and the common denominator was Michael McDiarmid.
“When challenged about it, he initially denied he was involved but investigations convinced his employers that he was responsible.
“He was dismissed and a report was made to the police.”
Before passing sentence Sheriff Aitken noted that a background report prepared for the case seemed to suggest that McDiarmid still had not actually accepted responsibility for the offence.
He was told, however, that McDiarmid now did accept his guilt, though he was at a loss to explain exactly why he had taken the money.
