Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Alford Golf Club manager ‘succumbed to temptation’ by embezzling £12,000

Andrew Jones leaving Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
Andrew Jones leaving Aberdeen Sheriff Court following a hearing in September 2020. Picture by Daniel McKay.

A golf course manager swindled thousands of pounds from his club’s coffers after his life “fell to pieces” through drink and drugs, a court has heard.

Andrew Jones stole more than £12,000 from Alford Golf Club over just 17 days in 2017, later claiming he needed the cash to pay off “significant” debts.

The 34-year-old resigned from the post soon after, with other staff quickly noticing suspicious activities in the books and raising the alarm with police.

Having admitted embezzling the money at a previous hearing, Jones’ case was heard again at Aberdeen Sheriff Court for sentencing yesterday.

The 34-year-old, who travelled north to the city from Leeds, had not been allowed entry to the building as he was waiting on the results of a coronavirus test.

He instead instructed his solicitor ahead of time outside the court.

Fiscal depute Lucy Simpson said Jones had taken up the role of manager on July 10, 2017.

“Part of his duties included paying staff with access to the club bank account,” she said.

Between August 25 and September 11, the manager made two unauthorised transactions from the club’s account to his own.

In total, £12,185 were transferred between the two.

Miss Simpson said: “A short time later the accused resigned as the manager of the golf club.

“Discrepancies were noted and the police were contacted.”

Jones’ solicitor, Ian Woodward-Nutt, said his client was a first-time offender who had “never” before been in trouble with the law.

He said: “He is a man whose life had fallen to pieces due to a combination of alcohol and cocaine.

“His marriage had been suffering and he found employment at Alford Golf Club unbeknownst to those around him.

“He was struggling with his substance misuse problems.

“There was significant debt. He was in a precarious financial situations and continues to be.”

Mr Woodward-Nutt added: “It is unfortunately he succumbed to temptation and embezzled this sum.

“This is a man who had a good career up until his fall from grace in 2017.”

Imposing his sentence, Sheriff Philip Mann said he was “mindful” the offences had occurred more than three years ago.

Jones, of Oakdene Way in Leeds, was ordered to complete 225 hours of unpaid work.

He was also placed under the supervision of social workers for 18 months.