A shop assistant pocketed £2,000 of cash from his till so he had spending money for his holidays, a court was told.
Andrew McCorquodale was employed by Marks and Spencer at the food counter check-out in their Inverness store in the Eastgate Centre for several years.
But from November 2011 until October, 2012, McCorquodale of 1 Towerhill Road, Inverness began stealing money every time he was about to go on holiday
However fiscal depute Roderick Urquhart said bosses at M&S noticed the link after discovering the discrepancies and trained CCTV cameras on their employee every time he was dealing with customers paying for their shopping.
Mr Urquhart said: “He was seen pocketing cash by the CCTV. He doesn’t know how much he took and it is not possible for M&S to determine how much. Apparently, there is some degree of inaccuracy built into their system.
“However a forensic accountant estimated that it was £2,000 and not the £3,585 he had orginally been charged with embezzling.”
McCorquodale admitted an amended charge of stealing £2,000 and had sentence deferred for good behaviour and a background report until October 2.
Defence lawyer John MacColl told Sheriff Margaret Neilson that his client was currently working in the Canary Islands but his contract would finish on September 21.
He added: “I can confirm all the money has been repaid to his former employers. I also have a letter from his GP and one from a psychiatrist which will give some background.”
Neither letter was read out in court but were read by Sheriff Neilson.
Mr MacColl went on: “He has accepted from the outset he is guilty of something, but not the figure that he was in the original charge.
“He is ashamed and distraught about what he has done and has written to Marks and Spencer. He resigned from his job in November, 2012.”
