A serial fraudster stunned restaurant staff when she left them a £250 tip.
They had no idea the mysterious diner was actually a conwoman who once posed as the sister of Stagecoach tycoon Ann Gloag.
Michelle Dillon, 50, spent £53 on dinner and drinks at the Salutation Hotel in Perth and rounded up her credit card payment to £300 to cover the tip.
She later went to the nearby Pig’Halle restaurant and spent £48 on another meal before leaving £70 as a tip for staff.
Her fraud came to light when a Texan discovered his credit card was being used 4,600 miles away in the Fair City.
American Joseph Moody had never been to Perth and raised the alarm when he realised he was unwittingly funding a flamboyant restaurant crawl.
Dillon, West Kirklands Place, Dalry, Ayrshire, was jailed for four months after she admitted using Mr Moody’s bank card to spend £600 in two restaurants.
She also admitted stealing a purse containing bank cards and money in the Royal Bar, Perth, a few days before in September 2016.
Depute fiscal Alan Morrison told Perth Sheriff Court: “Mr Moody and his wife are from Texas and they had been in Scotland on holiday.
“They had been in Edinburgh and when they returned to Texas they were notified by their bank that their card had been used in Perth, Scotland.
“He cancelled his card and informed the bank that he had not been in Perth and had not noticed the card had gone missing in Scotland.
“The accused had used the card first in the Salutation Hotel. She ordered food and drink to the value of £53. She used the card but amended the bill on the terminal to £300.
“She informed the manager that she wished the difference to be used as a tip for the staff. That was done.
“Later that evening she attended Pig’Halle. She again ordered food and drink, to the value of £48. She asked the staff member to amend the amount from £48 to £300.
“She asked for the difference to be reimbursed so £252 was given to her. She gave the staff a £70 tip before leaving.”
Dillon, who has more than 200 convictions for crimes of dishonesty across the UK, was later traced and found to still have Mr Moody’s card.
Solicitor David Holmes, defending, said Dillon had been waiting for drug and alcohol rehabilitation and planned to do a course when she is freed from prison.
Dillon was jailed for six months at the same court in 2016 after she pretended to be the sister of millionaire Ann Gloag and a scriptwriter for BBC show River City.
