Banned, top scientist who swapped price tags to con John Lewis out of £1,600

A SCOTS NHS scientist has been struck off after defrauding John Lewis out of more than £1,600 by swapping the price tags of expensive products for cheaper ones before she bought them.

Maureen Bennie swapped the labels of clothes and artwork for those of less expensive items during her three-month spree in the lead-up to Christmas.

She was caught after an investigation by the high street giant and pleaded guilty to fraud. The 57-year-old was discharged from court after she paid back some of the money she had taken.

Bennie admitted misconduct at a Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS) panel and in 2021 she was suspended from the profession for 12 months.

She has now been struck off after an HCPTS review hearing was told she had not ‘demonstrated any development in insight’.

The panel heard that at the time she worked as a biomedical scientist in the haematology department of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and had enjoyed a ‘lengthy professional career’.

In 2018, Bennie was contacted by police after reports of fraud from a John Lewis employee. It was alleged that in the three months leading up to Christmas the previous year, she had ‘engaged in ticket swapping and refund fraud’ at the store in Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow. She made ‘financial gains’ of £1,660.

The panel heard an in-store investigation had found Bennie ‘swapped higher price tickets to lower price tickets’ on items such as a ‘white blouse’ and an ‘artwork’. In another incident Bennie returned a gold watch she had bought in an online sale in the ‘higher priced packaging’ of a silver watch she had previously bought in store at double the price.

Bennie entered guilty pleas to the criminal charges and in August 2019 was granted an absolute discharge at Glasgow Sheriff Court after she repaid a sum less than the total value of her fraud to John Lewis.

At the latest HCPTS hearing, the panel ruled she should be struck off from the profession for not trying to learn from her behaviour and as she requested her name be removed from the register.

The panel concluded there ‘remained a likelihood of repetition’. A report added: ‘The panel further determined there was no evidence before it to suggest that Ms Bennie was likely to be able to resolve or remedy her failings.’