Council alarm thief dodges jail

A FORMER Dundee City Council supervisor who stole thousands of pounds worth of lifesaving equipment to help clear his gambling debts has avoided a jail term.

Iain Gardyne sold council-owned smoke alarms and sensors on eBay after stealing multiple items from the contract services department between October 28 2015 and June 26,2019.

The 55-year-old resigned from his role as an electrical supervisor in September 2019 after bosses were tipped-off to his activities.

Gardyne, who previously pled guilty at Dundee Sheriff Court, has been placed on an electronic tag for the next eight months as an alternative to custody.

Sheriff George Way said: “You appreciate this type of breach of trust has to be quite seriously censured.

“Were you not a first offender, were you not trying to redeem yourself, then you would have undoubtedly been imprisoned.”

Gardyne stole more than 200 different items. It was revealed how he had racked up gambling debts amounting to £65,000.

The department where he was employed has been at the centre of a corporate fraud probe after a contract to provide heat, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors was awarded to Edmundson Electrical without going out to tender.

Edmundson Electrical began supplying the devices to the council in April 2019 after the Scottish Government ordered authorities to improve safety in the wake of the 2017 Grenfell fire.

The alarms were stored at a shipping container at the contract services department. Replaced alarms would be sold back to Edmundson Electrical for £6.50, with the court hearing older alarms removed from council homes still had a substantial battery and warranty life.

Fiscal depute Carol Doherty said the council lost almost £8,000 as a result of Gardyne’s thefts.

She told the court how a fraud investigation was launched after the council was alerted to Gardyne’s eBay account by a Courier reporter in July 2019.

Gardyne, of Smithy House, Auchterhouse, pled guilty to stealing the items on various occasions at the council’s contract services department on Clepington Road.

He has since gone on to set up his own business, IG Electrical, carrying out domestic, commercial and industrial work.

Iain Gardyne sold council-owned smoke alarms and sensors.