Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Angus football star Kane Hester told police he knew pals bet on booking in Elgin’s clash with Hibs

The trial at Dundee has heard a police interview recording.

David Wilson of Elgin City challenges Hibs' Florian Kamberi during 2019 clash that fraud trial centres around. Image: SNS.
David Wilson of Elgin City challenges Hibs' Florian Kamberi during 2019 clash that fraud trial centres around. Image: SNS.

A footballer at the centre of a betting fraud trial told police his co-accused were going to place bets on him being booked in a League Cup clash against Hibernian.

Kane Hester, from Montrose, who plays for Elgin City, was booked in the 29th minute of the Betfred Cup tie in July 2019.

Although he was carded, he maintained to police it was not deliberate.

He is accused of forming a scheme with three others from the Angus town to con £13,583 from a bookmaker.

Pals told Hester about bet

On the second day of their trial, Dundee Sheriff Court heard a taped police interview involving the striker — Elgin’s all-time top scorer — who told investigating officers he had a poor disciplinary record.

He told police: “I have been booked four to five times. I’m an aggressive player.”

When asked what had happened before the tie in question, he told police: “My friends told me they were going to put a bet on me to score or be carded.

“They told me before the game and said they would give me a bit of money.”

When asked who these friends were, he named co-accused Calvin Parrot and Brody Myres.

He added: “I was sat at work. My mate (Parrot) showed me a screenshot of his betting app.

“He said something along the lines of ‘please, please get booked’.”

The booking

Hester said of the key incident in the match: “I was pushed off the ball by the opposition player.

“I extended my leg out to get the ball and got his calf. I caught him.

“It’s definitely a card.

“It could have been a red card.

“I picked up a card but when I was playing it wasn’t in my head to get one.

“I wasn’t thinking about anything other than the game.

“I hadn’t even decided whether I was actually going to do it.

“I’ve never gone out to get deliberately booked.”

Willie Collum at Dundee Sheriff Court. Image: Pix-AR.co.uk

On the opening day of the trial, Grade One Scottish referee Willie Collum, who officiated the match, said on reflection he should have sent off Hester for the challenge.

He said there was no reason to think it had been a deliberate attempt to be booked.

The court was told a bout a series of bets which were deemed suspicious after the match.

Charges denied

Prosecutors allege Hester, 27, Parrot, 28, Myres, 29 and 26-year-old Findlay Soutar duped bookmaker Bet365 out of £13,583.

They deny forming a fraudulent scheme to obtain money by placing bets Hester would “purposely commit a foul during the course of the match” and be booked at Borough Briggs Stadium in Elgin.

The charge states the four men carried out the con between July 20 and August 2 2019 and received £17,333.32 in payments from Bet365.

It also alleges £13,583.32 was obtained as unlawful winnings after five separate bets were placed.

An alternative version of the charge alleges they cheated at gambling by placing five bets on Hester being booked and he was shown a yellow card for a foul, leading to them falsely obtaining £13,583.32 in winnings.

Hester, 27, Soutar, 25, Parrot, 26, and Myles, 28, have all denied the charge and the trial continues.

For the latest court cases across Tayside and Fife, join our Courts Facebook page.