A murder victim’s son has avoided a jail term after he fraudulently fundraised at a church for a phony charity.
Jamie McMurchie tricked a series of people at a church and a shopping centre to hand over cash to a non-existent charity.
McMurchie, whose father John was stabbed to death in Dundee in August 2012, carried a fake ID badge as part of his act.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard he “formed a fraudulent scheme” between May 1 and May 15 2013 at the Steeple Church in Dundee’s Nethergate and at the city’s Keiller Centre shopping precinct.
Depute fiscal Isma Mukhtar told the court that McMurchie told police he was raising cash for Tayside Cancer Research and that any money raised would go to it.
She said: “The officers were not familiar with that charity and one of the officers searched the internet for it using his phone, but no details came up.
“The accused stated it was a real charity. He was interviewed later and said he had raised roughly £120 and maintained the charity was real.”
McMurchie, 21, of Lawton Terrace, Dundee, pleaded guilty to a charge of forming a fraudulent scheme and obtaining money by fraud. His partner, Lee Higgins, 32, also of Lawton Terrace, had his not guilty plea to the same charge accepted by the Crown.
Sheriff Tom Hughes imposed a community payback order with one year’s supervision and ordered him to take part in a mentoring programme for three months.
John McMurchie died from a single stab wound to the heart in the Whitfield area of Dundee in August 2012. His killing remains unsolved.