A Dundee supermarket worker who exploited a “glitch” in the system to steal almost £50,000 from the National Lottery has been jailed.
Melanie Davies managed to obtain the cash after inflating the number on winning tickets and scratchcards while the monitoring system was faulty.
Davies, who worked at Asda Milton of Craigie, was caught after lottery operator Camelot noticed a £10,000 discrepancy once the system returned to normal almost a year later.
The 35-year-old first offender previously pled guilty to the £47,000 fraud between August 23 2022 and July 12 2023.
Sheriff Gregor Murray said: “Members of the public are entitled in relation to the National Lottery to have confidence in the way it operates.
“They are entitled to know the sums they provide to the National Lottery benefit charities and other benevolent organisations.
“The actions you took strike right at the heart of all of that.
“There can be no alternative to a custodial sentence in the circumstances.”
Dundee Sheriff Court was told how the lottery cash is managed separately from the day-to-day money at Asda.
Staff at the lottery and gaming counter make payouts and have the readings of the total cash paid out at the end of each day.
Fiscal depute Lora Apostolova explained: “The staff are tasked with presenting the totals of the payouts to Camelot.
“However, there was a technical glitch which resulted in a loss of visibility between Camelot and the store.
“Access was restored and a discrepancy of £10,000 appeared.
“Thereafter, daily receipts were requested and submitted to the cash office in hard copy.
“They were prepared by the Asda lottery kiosk and Camelot began to notice a variance in figures from the store when they were comparing it to Camelot.”
The court heard Davies, of Scott Street in Brechin, would declare false amounts and pocket the excess cash.
Davies returned to court following the preparation of a social work report.
Defence solicitor Gary McIlravey said his client was paying £20 per month to Asda with an agreement in place to pay back more cash once she obtained full-time employment from her college qualification next year.
He said: “What the report reflects was that she was going through a particularly difficult period.
“She has provided me with a number of character references.
“She has undertaken substantial work herself to address a clear, underlying issue.
“She knows the matter is not over and will hang over her head for a period of time.”
Davies had previously appeared on petition but the charge was reduced to summary procedure which carries a maximum prison sentence of 12 months.
Sheriff Murray added: “I take account of the very significant steps you have taken and the background so, exceptionally, I assess the headline sentence as 10 months, restricted to seven months.”
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