A disgraced former footballer who conned thousands of pounds out of people in Elgin has been given more time to pay back his victims.
Ceiran McLean, who once turned out for and won the Highland League title with Buckie Thistle, admitted to stringing along paying customers for more than a year with promises that he could deliver bespoke football training and sponsorship that he never delivered.
He admitted breaching a section of the Trading Regulations Act back in May and was back in the dock today to be sentenced.
But after hearing that the 34-year-old, whose address was given as Inchbroom Avenue in Lossiemouth, has been working “very long hours” to scrape together the thousands he owed, the court allowed him more time to get his affairs in order.
Saved more than half so far
Solicitor Robert Cruickshank, who was appearing on behalf of Aberdeen firm George Mathers & Co., said the former footballer had been saving the money in a partner’s bank account with the intention of passing it on to his legal team to then pay people back.
Calling for a deferral on sentencing, he said McLean had saved more than half of the £10,686 he was due to pay.
“Five-and-a-half thousand pounds has been saved, it is in an account that is not in his name,” he said.
“He’s managed to save that by working very long hours and he indicated to me that he would be confident that within, say, three months, he would be able to save the balance.”
‘100%’
Sheriff David Harvie, overseeing the case, agreed to McLean’s solicitor’s request.
Addressing the former Elgin player’s future, he said a financial penalty would ultimately come his way.
“Aside from the possibility of restitution, the other thing that Mr McLean will need to be thinking about is quite a substantial financial penalty,” Sheriff Harvie said.
“It can only be a financial penalty.”
Asking him directly if he would be able to scrape together the remaining cash for the victims, McLean replied: “100%.”
Previous convictions
Elgin Sheriff Court has yet to hear the circumstances of how McLean carried out his crime, but at a previous hearing was told that his illegal efforts stretched from June 15 2020 to August 11 2021.
Throughout that period, he admitted breaching a section of the Trading Regulations Act, which prevents businesses from conducting unfair commercial practices that are likely to influence the behaviour of the average consumer.
McLean will now return to court in October to be sentenced for that, but is no stranger to its walls.
In 2013, while he was still at Elgin City FC, he was sentenced to 12 months behind bars for his part in a horror smash on the A96 Nairn to Alves road, which left a trialist in a coma for two months.
The crash happened after McLean and another Elgin City player made their way along a country road, overtaking cars and driving on the wrong side of the carriageway on the way home from a match.
The trialist also suffered broken legs, a broken pelvis, and a brain injury.