Man stole £5,500 while working as Aldi deputy manager

A Kirkcaldy man who stole £5,500 while deputy manager of an Aldi store has dodged jail.

David Nelson, of Church Street, was deputy manager of the branch on Flemington Road, Glenrothes, when he committed the theft.

At a previous hearing the 47-year-old was told by Sheriff Max Hendry to save £60 a week to begin paying back the stolen amount.

He handed over £420 in cash at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on Thursday as part of his repayments.

Sheriff Hendry told Nelson, who admitted stealing the cash on April 17 last year, that he could count himself fortunate not to be sent to prison.

He said: “Times have moved on. There was a point in time not that many years ago that what you did would have led to a prison sentence.

“However, I am prepared to deal with this matter in an alternative way.”

Nelson was sentenced to a community payback order including 200 hours’ unpaid work in the community, as well as a compensation order to pay back the remaining £5,080 he stole.