Wedding planner faces jail after scamming couples

● Brides left in tears after castle bookings fraud

A wedding planner is facing jail after he scammed £130,000 from dozens of couples – leaving some double booked and others in limbo with just weeks until their big day.

Craig Williamson vanished to Ibiza lying to colleagues at plush Guthrie Castle in Angus that he was visiting his father in Glasgow.

In reality he was on the run having splurged the cash on his gambling habit – spending up to £5,000 a day on his addiction. The castle’s multi-millionaire owner, American businessman Dan Pena, has so far had to shell out over £130,000 from his own pocket to cover refunds and honour bookings that Williamson had swindled the cash from.

Dundee Sheriff Court heard bride Alice Cannon found her wedding – for which she had handed over nearly £19,000 to Williamson – was not on the books with Guthrie Castle staff only a week before her big day.

It went ahead after Mr Pena met the cost from his own pocket.

Megan Mcnamee found her big day was triple booked for a date in mid-july – forcing her to reschedule for later in the year, again with Mr Pena meet- ing the cost. And the mother of a third bride, Kayleigh Ferguson, handed over just short of £19,000 to Williamson for a wedding scheduled for June and booked more than 18 months in advance.

But again there was no record with the castle and Williamson vanished with the money.

Fortunately her wedding went ahead – again with the castle owner paying for it.

Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson told the court brides were left “upset and stressed” with one telling police investigating the scam she didn’t sleep for a week with worry while another said: “The situation has put a strain on our relationship.”

Miss Robertson said: “The accused was hired as a castle and estate manager in November 2014 and was in charge of all events held on the estate.”

She added: “In total 39 bridal parties had paid a total of around £130,000 to the accused.”

The court heard Williamson handed himself in to police in Dundee on 8 May after news of the fraud broke but refused to answer police questions during interview.

Williamson, 42, a prisoner at HMP Perth, pleaded guilty on indictment to a charge of fraud committed between 16 July 2015 and April 2017.

Sheriff Alastair Carmichael deferred sentence until next month and remanded Williamson in custody.