Restaurant worker stole £160 from till

A chef raided the till of a popular buffet restaurant, a court heard this week.

Patrick Edward McKeown stole £160 from an unlocked till at the Namaste World Buffet restaurant in Dumbarton Road.

The 23-year-old appeared at Stirling Sheriff Court on Wednesday, where he admitted a charge of theft from July 4 of last year.

Fiscal depute Laura Knox said that McKeown, of Wishart Drive in Broomridge, was employed at the restaurant on a trial basis at the time.

She said:“The duty manager opened up the store at around 12pm. A customer was paying for their food, but when she opened the till the manager realised the cash float from the till was not there.”

CCTV from the restaurant showed the man opening the till and emptying the money into his pockets.

In interview with police, McKeown admitted he had taken the money from the till.

Defending, Ken Dalling said his client had a historic difficulty with substance abuse and that he had been topping up his methadone subscription with illegal substances.

McKeown’s solicitor added that he had the money to pay the restaurant back for what he had taken.

Sheriff Wyllie Robertson fined McKeown £700, reduced from £1000 to reflect his guilty plea, and ordered the £160 compensation to be paid within two weeks.