A MAN who stole from his Inverness girlfriend in an effort to pay back huge gambling debts was jailed for a year at Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday.
David Griffin, 33, was addicted to gambling and owed around £30,000 to unlicensed bookmakers, claimed defence solicitor Andrew Houston.
Griffin eventually resorted to stealing his girlfriend’s bank and credit cards and faking her signature on a cheque to buy a Volkswagen Golf.
And he used the credit cards to buy a £1,400 laptop computer and other goods before driving south to Blackpool to try and sell the car.
Griffin appeared from custody and pleaded guilty to 14 charges committed during July and August last year.
Fiscal Karen Smith said that Griffin and his girlfriend Alison Cheyne were in a relationship when he disappeared on August 2 last year, taking his clothes and items belonging to Miss Cheyne, including bank cards, a laptop and a digital camera.
She said he used the cards to withdraw money from bank machines and to make purchases worth several hundred pounds in Inverness and Hamilton during the same day.
Later that month when he was working as a beater at Ralia Estate, near Newtonmore, Griffin disappeared and a fellow estate worker found that his rucksack, wallet and bank cards were missing.
Ms Smith said that Griffin used the cards to spend nearly £700 on goods from shops in Aviemore and Glasgow.
Mr Houston said Griffin had a “chronic” gambling habit and had run up £30,000 of debts with unlicensed bookmakers. He could not repay the debts and feared for his safety.
Griffin, who was described as being of no fixed abode, admitted stealing items from the Ptarmigan Lodge, Newtonmore, on August 29, including banks cards, computer and camera equipment, and £140 in cash. He also admitted using the bank cards to buy goods worth £523 from Glasgow shops5.
Griffin admitted stealing £1,700 and a cheque in Miss Cheyne’s name at the end of July last year, and uttering it as genuine to buy a car from Culloden Car Sales.
He also admitted stealing five bank and credit cards from Miss Cheyne, as well as a laptop, MP3 player and digital camera.
He pleaded guilty to four charges of using the cards to buy goods worth a total of £2,099; and two charges of obtaining £300 in cash from bank machines by fraud.
And he used a stolen card to place a £200 bet at a bookmakers in Hamilton on August 2, 2007.