A former north-east supermarket worker has been ordered by a court to repay £1,500 she embezzled from her till.
Jessica McKay stole the money over a two-month period when she worked at the kiosk at Morrisons, on Blackhall Road in Inverurie, last year.
Suspicions were raised about her behaviour during an audit of the shop’s takings, and the 26-year-old was caught red-handed on camera.
McKay, of Lee Crescent in Aberdeen, appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Tuesday for sentencing, after pleading guilty to embezzlement.
Fiscal depute Jade Wong said: “The accused was previously employed at Morrisons as a kiosk operator.
“On October 25, 2018, an audit was conducted into suspected suspicious voids made at her till over a couple of months.
“CCTV was reviewed and this showed the accused at the till, on many occasions, pocketing money and processing transactions when no customers were present.
“Reports from the till showed the many voided transactions.”
She added: “A representative from the company carried out an interview with her regarding the fraudulent transactions, and she fully admitted it.”
McKay’s solicitor Liam McAllister said she had been going through a difficult time between August and October, which caused her to begin lifting money from the till.
He told the court: “Her former employer was sympathetic to the situation that Miss McKay had placed herself in.
“They recognised her good service and the high regard she was held in, and she has shown genuine remorse.”
McKay offered to pay back all of the money she embezzled and since found full-time employment elsewhere.
Mr McAllister said: “She can right the wrong she created over the period of a few very difficult months.”
Sheriff Graham Buchanan described the crime as “quite serious”, noting that McKay had breached the trust of her employers.
He ordered her to repay the money she embezzled at a rate of £100 per month and complete 120 hours of unpaid work.
McKay was also given 15 months of social work supervision.
