A dating website rat emptied out a safe containing nearly £13,000 which had been inherited by his lover, before dumping her.
Brian Fleming was branded “despicable” by a sheriff after a court heard how his victim turned detective to establish he had taken the money her father left her shortly before he died
Fleming stole his lover’s nest egg, then he fled their shared home.
Fleming disappeared with the cash – which had been saved over decades – and his spurned victim had to track him down.
Emptied safe
Fleming was caught thanks to £20 notes in the stash which were no longer in circulation.
Fiscal depute Duncan MacKenzie told Perth Sheriff Court the victim had cared for her father and he had left her the cash, which had never been put in the bank.
“It was mainly in £20 and £50 note denominations and some of the £20 notes were no longer in circulation.
“Mr Fleming met her on a dating app in 2018.
“That resulted in a relationship starting in a matter of weeks and he moved into the address.
“On February 15 2019 she entered the safe and noticed the contents were missing.
“She immediately challenged Mr Fleming as he was the only person within the address but he denied any knowledge of the safe or the money.”
She said she would contact the police but Fleming persuaded her not to by convincing her she might get into trouble for having so much unexplained cash in the house.
Snared by old £20 notes
“The relationship began to dwindle and he moved out,” Mr MacKenzie said.
“That only served to raise her suspicions further.
“She used social media and the internet to track down the friends and family of the accused.
“She made contact with his sister and a conversation ensued.
“Fleming had provided his sister with £200 in £20 notes.
“She said she went to deposit it but was challenged due to the age of the notes and them no longer being in circulation.
“Following that conversation he was reported to police.
“They carried out a financial investigation and found that a £10,000 deposit had been made to his Nationwide bank account on February 6 2019.”
A further four £1,000 deposits were made and the matter was again highlighted when the bank refused to accept the older-style £20 notes as they were no longer legal tender.
Confession
Fleming was arrested and interviewed and confessed to the police that he had taken all of the money from the safe.
The court was told the grieving woman had never counted it so did not know the exact amount involved.
After admitting he had ripped off his former partner, Fleming told police: “I’m sorry, I’ll pay it back.”
Fleming, 53 now of Kings Norton, Birmingham, admitted stealing £12,960 from an address in Crammond Place, Perth, on an occasion between January 1 and 31 2019.
Pinned hopes on ‘question mark’ over cash
Solicitor David Sinclair, defending, said: “He accepts responsibility for the offence.
“The relationship wasn’t going anywhere and he saw no future in it.
“He had been aware there was a sum of money and as he was leaving the woman, he took it.
“It was not for any vindictive purpose or out of malice but it was opportunistic.
“He was of the view that there were question marks over the source of the money and it might not come to the attention of the authorities.
“Some of the benefit he sought to take didn’t quite materialise as some of the notes were out of circulation.
“He would seek to make amends.”
‘Despicable offence’
Mr Sinclair told the court Fleming had a young family and sending him to prison would have a negative impact upon them.
He said his client had been to prison before but not in recent years.
Sheriff Jennifer Bain KC ordered Fleming – who was said to have limited resources and no job – to pay back £10,000 compensation within the next 22 months.
She also placed him under social work supervision for two years as a direct alternative to custody.
The sheriff said: “This was a despicable offence.
“You took money that had been left to the complainer by her father.
“He was not long deceased when you deprived her of it.
“You thought she would not report it.
“You used it for your own benefit and made no real effort to return any of it to her.
“You did all this knowing you did not want the relationship to continue.”
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