A former Highland council hopeful has been charged with embezzling thousands of pounds from the Tain Gala Association.
Veronica Morrison, who once ran for the Tain and Easter Ross seat, is accused of taking more than £8,000 while working on a raffle ticket fundraiser for the community organisation.
The 56-year-old was neither personally present nor represented by a lawyer when the case called at Tain Sheriff Court.
No plea in Tain embezzlement case
Fiscal depute Anna Boyle asked that the case be continued without plea for service – a step usually taken in order to allow documentation relating to the charges to be delivered to the accused.
In 2023, Morrison ran for the Conservative Party in the Highland Council by-election for the Tain and Easter Ross ward but was not elected.
She is also understood to have previously served on Nigg and Shandwick Community Council.
The charge, to which no plea has yet been entered, alleges that Morrison embezzled £8,061.
The libel claims that the crime took place between November 2023 and May 2024 at Morrison’s Nigg Mains home and elsewhere.
It alleges that the crime was committed while Morrison was “facilitating a raffle ticket fundraiser on behalf of the Tain Gala Association”.
Tain Gala Association is a non-profit organisation, which produces events throughout the year for the benefit of the local and surrounding communities.
Case continued to July
Morrison did not appear at Tain Sheriff Court yesterday, when the case called.
In front of a busy public gallery, the prosecutor asked that the matter be continued without plea for service.
Sheriff Neil Wilson granted that motion and the case is now set down to call again at Tain Sheriff Court on July 30.
Morrison was ordained to appear at that hearing.