A serial swindler who gambled £700 his boss gave him to pick up parts – then lied about being robbed – has been ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.
Philip Muirhead was given cash by his employer at a haulage and logistics firm in Kintore with the instruction to pick up tyres after carrying out work in England.
After gambling away the money, he concocted an elaborate story about being robbed.
Muirhead told police that a car pulled up alongside him at a junction on North Anderson Drive, and its occupant demanded he hand over his wallet and any other valuables.
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The 41-year-old went so far as to say that he “remained stationary at the side of the road for about 15 minutes in shock” after the imaginary ordeal on February 18 last year.
But that added detail tripped up Muirhead as his bosses told police they were able to provide data tracking the vehicle’s movements – as well as dash-cam footage.
He admitted charges of theft and wasting police time at Aberdeen Sheriff Court last month, and returned to the dock to be sentenced yesterday.
Representing himself, Muirhead, of Seaton Place East, told the court he had paid it back and said his employer – who has kept him – did not want a compensation order to be imposed.
He must now carry out 120 hours of unpaid work as part of a community payback order.
Muirhead was convicted of carrying out a fraudulent scheme in 2015 after conning people out of £475 online by claiming he had items to sell and then failing to deliver them.
He was caught by police after complaints emerged from “across the country”.
He was also jailed for two-and-a-half years in 2013, for stealing £21,947 from two pensioners while working as an advocate for mentally vulnerable elderly patients at Cornhill Hospital.