Police launch probe at wedding venue

CASTLE: Angus events double booked amid fraud claims

A police inquiry is under way at an Angus castle over claims a former member of staff double booked weddings and had deposits paid into his personal account.

It is claimed the former employee at Guthrie Castle, pictured, wiped the booking records before “doing a runner”.

The popular wedding venue is urging couples to make contact as they figure out their calendar of events and try to establish the amount of money missing.

It is understood a wedding due to be held on Saturday was double booked with a conference.

One groom, who is due to marry in less than a month, told The Courier he did not know if their wedding was the only one booked for that day and described the situation as “horrendous”.

Guthrie Castle did not respond to requests for a comment yesterday.

A police investigation is under way at an Angus castle amid allegations a former employee has double or triple-booked weddings and pocketed the deposits.

Many people in the wedding trade in Tayside — including make-up artists, caterers and photographers — are claiming an ex-member of staff at Guthrie Castle has “done a runner”.

It is understood a wedding held at the venue on Saturday was double-booked with a conference.

Guthrie Castle did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.

However, their website reads: “Anyone who has booked for a wedding or event with Guthrie Castle, kindly contact us at 01241 828 691.”

A widely-shared post on social media claims: “Apparently, their wedding coordinator was taking double and triple bookings, pocketing the money, only having one booking in the diary and so the venue doesn’t know who to contact or who is booked.

“For people who have booked, some are in the diary but haven’t paid deposit and some aren’t in the diary but have paid the deposit, so they don’t know who to honour the booking to.

“Meanwhile, the coordinator has done a total runner with around half a million and the venue can’t get in touch with all the couples because they don’t know who they all are.”

It is unknown how many people are affected by the claims.

Dundee couple Lynsey Swan, 28 and her partner Gavin Smith, 31, are due to marry at the castle next June.

Lynsey said: “It is a total nightmare but there are other people whose weddings could be next weekend.

“We put down a deposit of just over £2,000 and we don’t know what will happen with that.”

Dundee-based photographer Kirsty Brown, who runs Memento Wedding Photography, said she had several clients due to be married there.

She said: “I spoke to the make-up artist that did the wedding on Saturday that was double booked and she said it was all true.

“Apparently, the wedding coordinator had used his bank details for people to put the deposits into rather than the business account.

“I then spoke to one bride on the phone who has booked me to take their photos at Guthrie Castle.

“Thankfully, she’s not getting married there until 2018, so hopefully it will be sorted out before then.

“She was absolutely devastated. She did wonder about that because the account didn’t seem like a business account.”

Photographer Angus Forbes said he had half a dozen weddings booked there in the next couple of years. He said: “Clients have been contacting me about the situation. It seems that the castle is pulling out the stops to try to solve the issues.”

A police spokesman said: “Police Scotland is aware of the matter and is carrying out inquires.” rmclaren@thecourier.co.uk

Guthrie Castle’s main building and gardens, top, and its golf course, above.