A winning scratch card-stealing Dundee shop worker’s lucky streak has come to an end after he was ordered by a court to complete unpaid work.
Nathan Donaldson previously admitted embezzling from Graham Street News when he worked there more than four years ago and appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court to be sentenced.
Fiscal depute Calum Gordon explained the now-23-year-old was employed as a trainee shop assistant at the beginning of March 2018.
Within days – between March 23 and 25 – he had embezzled a dozen scratch cards from the shop.
Four turned out to be winners and Donaldson, of Buttars Road in Dundee, won a total of £50.
Crimes uncovered
The court heard he had been working on a Friday but his crimes were uncovered during a routine float check carried out by the store’s owner on the Sunday morning.
The business owner contacted police later that evening.
Donaldson’s solicitor explained her client had subsequently lost his job at the newsagent and despite later finding employment at a call centre, is currently unemployed.
The father-of-two was ordered to complete unpaid work by Sheriff Gregor Murray as a direct alternative to a prison sentence.
The sheriff told him: “Any job comes with responsibility.
“In your case, your responsibility included scratch cards.
“You have significantly breached the trust of your employer.
“You have one previous conviction. This was four and a half years ago.”
Donaldson was given a year in which to complete the unpaid work.
