More time to pay for fraudster
An airline worker who pocketed £14,000 from bosses has been handed even more time to pay back the stolen cash.
L i s s a For r e s t , 4 5 , embezzled the dosh while working as a customer service assistant for Loganair at Glasgow Airport.
Married Forrest ran the con by filing 37 bogus claims for compensation on behalf of passengers, which she diverted into her own pocket.
Paisley Sheriff Court the jobless fraudster still owes the airline almost £5,000 of the loot, and is struggling to find work so she can continue to repay £100 per month.
Forrest, a former law graduate of Craigbet Crescent, Quarriers Village, Bridge of Weir, was handed a Community Payback Order lasting 18 months, 300 hours of unpaid work, and the compensation order when pleaded guilty to crime.
Defence agent Rhona Lynch told the court: “There is £4,900 outstanding. £9,000 has been paid towards the compensation order.
“She has found it difficult to find employment and is in difficult financial straits.
“She is reliant on her partner and is not entitled to benefits because of her husband’s income, and has completed the supervision requirement and unpaid work elements of the order.
“I would ask the court to revoke the order and impose a new compensation order of £50 per month.
“If her finances improve and she finds a job, she will increase the payments.”
Forrest had admitted pocketing the cash between June, 2013 and September, 2016, when her racket was rumbled by a suspicious colleague.
The court heard her problems began with an addiction to sleeping tablets, which her doctor refused to keep on prescribing.
She turned to crime to pay for the tablets which she was buying online.
Sheriff James Spy agreed to the lawyer’s plea on behalf of Forrest and revoked the existing order, by allowing Forrest to halve her repayments.
He said: “I will revoke the order which only had two months to run. You have completed the unpaid work with no issues. The £ 4,900 will be covered with a new compensation order at a repayment at £50 per month.”