WHEN a punter won £98 on a cash machine in a Galashiels bookmaker’s, he laid his wallet down on a counter as he went to collect his winnings.
But when the lucky winner returned, he found the wallet containing credit cards and cash was gone.
Depute procurator fiscal Tessa Bradley told Monday’s sitting of Selkirk Sheriff Court that the cashier in the William Hill branch found it strange that Andrew Kane, 42, of Church Square, Galashiels, and a friend had left the shop without placing a bet.
The court was told that CCTV showed Kane lifting the wallet. Police officers found him in the nearby Ladbrokes betting shop and £120.33 in his possession was seized.
The prosecutor continued: “He initially said he had never seen a wallet, but when he was told it was caught on CCTV he admitted he had done it. He said he had given £30 to the friend that was with him and then thrown the wallet away, but he returned the cards.
“He told police officers, ‘I am sorry. I will apologise to the guy’.”
Defending, Greg McDonnel said Kane was a regular in the shop and easily recognised, adding: “It was a momentary lapse, an opportunist theft.”
Kane was already on deferred sentence for good behaviour when the theft occurred on November 21.
He was discovered in possession of a knife in Galashiels police station 12 months earlier after claiming “bad people” were after him. Kane had gone to the police station shortly before midnight, but had forgotten he had the knife on him after fishing earlier in the day.
The court was told how officers had left a “calling card” at Kane’s former home in Hawthorn Road, Galashiels, asking him to turn up at the station following investigations into a theft he had reported. But officers became suspicious about the way he was behaving.
The court was told Kane was asked if he was carrying anything and he replied “no”, although he was not convincing. When searched, a lock knife with a serrated edge was found in his jacket pocket.
Kane replied to being cautioned and charged by saying: “I am an idiot. It was something that shouldn’t have been in my pocket.”
Sheriff Mhairi McTaggart deferred sentence for four months for good behaviour on the original knife offence to allow the resident sheriff to finally deal with. With regards to the theft while on deferred sentence, she ordered Kane to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work, to be completed within three months.