Work order breached

A Perth man, spared jail after stealing a credit card and going on a spending spree, failed to complete his unpaid work.

Perth Sheriff Court was told this week that 42-year-old Christopher Cruickshank had carried out only twothirds of the 135 hours imposed last September.

He was given an extra 20 hours - and told to complete that within the next three months - or he would end up in jail.

The court heard previously that the accused, of Robertson Buildings, Barrack Street, stole the card from a house in Back Street, Bridge of Earn, on April 7- and then used it to fraudulently obtain goods from two local stores the same day.

He first bought £37 worth of clothing and footwear from Sports Direct, at the St Catherine’s Retail Park, and then purchased sunglasses and outdoor goods, valued at £11, from Tesco in Edinburgh Road.

Cruickshank was subject to a February 27 bail order at the time.

Not guilty pleas were accepted to further charges of buying tobacco, filter tips and bottled water (£14.57) from Malthursts Petroleum in Edinburgh Road, and £19.19 of items from TK Maxx, also in the Perth retail park.

Noting that Cruickshank had just under 50 hours to complete, Sheriff William Wood increased that to 70 hours.

But he warned the accused if the Community Payback Order was breached again, he would be “going to prison.” back more than £75,000.

Forty-nine-year-old Scott Coupland, of Leadenflower Road, Crieff, submitted a series of false VAT returns to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) between March, 2011, and November, 2012, while he was director of WDR Coupland (Produce).

The business was run from premises in East High Street, Crieff.

He claimed his overheads were more than 20 times higher than they actually were - and subsequently received £160,000 in VAT repayments to which he wasn’t entitled.

Coupland was jailed for two-and-ahalf years in February, 2017, at Perth Sheriff Court - and after appearing at the same court last week, he was ordered to pay back £76,500.

Cheryl Burr, assistant director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said yesterday: “Coupland has already been jailed for his criminal actions.

“But even following a conviction, our work doesn’t stop.

“He showed no regard for honest businesses by using the VAT repayment system to fund his lifestyle and now we will recover a large proportion of the profit he made from his crime, securing these funds for the public purse.

“We also have the authority to secure any future assets up to the benefit of the fraud, “she explained.

“We encourage anyone with information about tax fraud to contact our Fraud Hotline on 0800-788-887.”

Coupland was found guilty of the fraudulent evasion of VAT, contrary to the 1994 Value Added Tax Act, at the Perth court on January 13, 2017.

He was subsequently jailed for 30 months the following month, after background reports had been prepared.

Sheriff William Wood told the accused, who served as a retained firefighter for 18 years, that because of the large sums of cash involved, only a custodial sentence would be “appropriate.”

Coupland had claimed that his computer had “crashed” in 2011 and he had lost vital information relating to his returns.

That led to him re-keying VAT information going back several years, resulting in wrong details being submitted.

He told the jury that if he had been aware of any wrongdoing, he wouldn’t have continued submitting his returns the way he had.

But the jury didn’t believe him and unanimously convicted him on both counts.