Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Woman admits cash card bid
Pretended to be granddaughter
A brazen Airdrie woman who tried to withdraw cash using a stolen bank card has admitted breaching her subsequent court order punishment.
Charlene McGuire got her hands on the card from another party and pretended to staff at the Airdrie and Coatbridge branches of Clydesdale Bank that she was the carer and granddaughter of the card’s owner.
The 24- year- old was denied cash withdrawals from suspicious staff after chancing her arm at both Monklands banks on April 14, 2014.
McGuire, from Wellside Avenue, admitted both offences and narrowly avoided jail time when she was sentenced to a community payback order with 15 months’ supervision and 175 hours of unpaid work at Airdrie Sheriff Court.
During McGuire’s sentencing, the procurator fiscal said: “The card owner had an account with Clydesdale Bank and put her card into her purse, where she also kept a note of her pin number next to the card.
“The witness left the purse on her living room table and someone unknown took the purse and other property.
“At 9.20am on the day of the offences, the bank employee was working on the cash desk at Clydesdale Bank in Airdrie when the accused tried to withdraw £800 from the card holder’s bank card.
“The witness became suspicious that the accused wasn’t the card holder and questioned her, to which she replied that she was the card holder’s granddaughter and carer.
“Later in the same day, at the Coatbridge Clydesdale Bank branch, the accused tried to withdraw £ 500 from the card and gave staff the same explanation, saying her grandmother had given her access to use the card.”
When McGuire reappeared in the dock accused of breaching her order, defence solicitor Rowan Myles revealed reports on his client were unavailable but that she had made an “admission of breach”.
Sheriff Frank Pieri then deferred sentencing further until March 15 for the criminal justice social work reports previously called for.