Courts in Grampian: Oldmeldrum shoplifter had nearly £600 of items
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An Oldmeldrum mum with money worries stole from several petrol stations and supermarkets to try ease her financial woes.
Erica Buchan, who's also known as Spink, appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday where she pleaded guilty to committing a string offences in partnership with another woman.
On July 20 last year the 43-year-old drove onto the forecourt of the Tesco filling station in Huntly and filled up two containers with £72 of unleaded petrol.
She then left without paying.
Three hours later she returned and did exactly the same thing but with four containers and £135 of petrol.
Then, on the last day of that month, she stole £99 of fuel from the Tesco service station in Inverurie.
Two more charges admitted by her both took place in Elgin on January 15 this year.
During the morning she left Asda with a trolley-load of goods which, the court heard, included food, clothes, light bulbs, curtains, coffee pods and towels.
Buchan then headed over Edgar Road to B&M.
Upon leaving the second store later with various electrical items and clothes, she and the other woman were confronted by a security guard.
Speaking in court yesterday, fiscal depute Naomi Duffy-Welsh said: "The defendant claimed to have paid for the goods but could not produce a receipt.
"As she drove away the police were contacted and they issued a vehicle alert."
The court heard that Buchan was spotted behind the wheel a short time later by a mobile patrol.
Officers stopped the car she was driving and found £579.52 of goods on the back seat.
Buchan's defence solicitor told the court that his client had been experiencing severe financial stresses.
Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood ordered the mum-of-one to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work for the community within the next six months.
He also placed Buchan, whose address was given in court papers as Meadowside, Oldmeldrum, under the supervision of social workers for the next two years.
