A Ballingry man thought Christmas came early when £600 of vouchers meant for a previous householder came through his letterbox.
Daryl Hutcheson fraudulently spent hundreds of pounds worth of Park Christmas vouchers, which were wrongly sent to his home.
The father of five had moved into the property after Kirsty Latimer moved out in January 2020.
Earlier that month, Ms Latimer set up a savings account and had hoped to cash in on the £600 pre-paid cards to complete her Christmas shopping.
Bought Hoover and computer equipment
At Dunfermline Sheriff Court, fiscal depute Xander van der Scheer said: “The witness Latimer opened an account with Park Christmas Savings at the start of 2020.
“She then moved address in January 2020 and forgot to inform Park of the new address.”
Upon realising her mistake, Ms Latimer logged onto her online account to update the address around the time shopping vouchers were being posted.
She contacted the company’s team on November 8 to have the vouchers sent to her new home.
However, she was told they had already been dispatched.
Two days earlier, a £300 shopping voucher had been posted through 31-year-old Hutcheson’s letterbox.
Another followed three days after.
He spent them, fraudulently, at Argos in Kirkcaldy’s Fife Central Retail Park, buying a Hoover and computer items.
‘Gave in to temptation’
Hutcheson’s defence solicitor David Bell told the court it was “inevitable” his client would need to pay the money back.
Mr Bell said: “He has moved in and two cards have arrived in his postal mail.
“Regrettably, he’s given in to temptation.
“He said money was tight. Of course, it was for Ms Latimer.
“Ultimately, he knows he has to be punished in some way.”
Being sentenced on Friday, Hutcheson was ordered to repay the £600.
Offered to pay back extra
From the dock, Hutcheson, of Seamark Place, asked Sheriff Susan Duff if he could pay Ms Latimer an additional £100 as part of his punishment “to reflect his feelings of guilt.”
However, the sheriff opted not to impose any further financial penalty on carer Hutcheson through fear of impacting on his family.
Instead, she ordered him to complete 20 hours of unpaid work on top of the compensation order.
The sheriff noted the payment order will likely impact Hutcheson’s Christmas in the same way Ms Latimer’s was hit last year.
She said: “The money that you took on those two prepaid cards probably had a huge impact on that woman’s Christmas.
“She’s got to get that back.”
