Attempts to question the expertise of a duty lawyer in a bid to back out of guilty pleas failed to win a sheriff over.
Despite admitting to three charges of fraud at an earlier appearance, Martin McPhee tried to have these overturned.
Depute fiscal Stuart Richardson told Perth Sheriff Court that he had discussed the deal at length with a “very experienced” solicitor.
The 21-year-old, of Newhouse Road, admitted that on December 12 last year, at Kincardine Road in Auchterarder, he told a pensioner that he had carried out gardening work and conned her out of £70.
He further admitted that on the following day, at the same address, he used the same ruse to try and obtain more money from the woman.
McPhee also admitted a further charge that on January 21, at the Bank of Scotland on Scone’s Perth Road, he pretended to another pensioner that he had carried out gardening work and attempted to force her to withdraw money from the ATM and give him £350.
