A gambling addict’s poker face let him down as he tried to cash a fake cheque at a Dundee bank.
Geoffrey Newman, 28, was shaking so much when he tried to sign the cheque that staff suspected he was trying to con them and called police.
Dundee Sheriff Court was told Newman walked into Barclays Bank and asked for a cheque to be cashed.
Depute fiscal Marie Irvine said the cheque was put through a light machine and shown as fake.
Solicitor Ross Bennett, defending Newman, said: “He had built up significant gambling debts through card schools and certain persons he did not want to get on the wrong side of railed on him to settle his debts.
“He couldn’t do that so they set up a scheme and drove him to Dundee. Mr Newman suffers from anxiety and was shaking badly when he went into the bank.”
Mr Bennett said staff are trained to spot certain behaviour and the teller kept him waiting while another member of staff contacted police.
“Mr Newman left the bank when he realised something was up,” he added.
Newman was identified through bank CCTV.
He was arrested at his home in Northampton and brought to Dundee.
Newman appeared from custody and admitted that on January 18 2016, at Barclays Bank, High Street, he uttered as genuine a cheque drawn on the account of Abshire Smith Global, by presenting it to an employee there, and attempted to obtain £1,500.
Sentence was deferred until April 11 for a restriction of liberty order assessment and remanded Newman in custody.
