A recently released prisoner who received £1400 in compensation for “slopping out” falsely alleged he had been subjected to a terrifying armed robbery after he blew the lot in a matter of days.
Perth Sheriff Court heard Edward Lyons (25), of York Place, was desperate to prove he had not restarted a drug habit so he concocted a “web of lies” to explain away his dramatic spending. Yesterday he admitted that on June 2 last year he told officers he had been robbed at knifepoint.
Lyons’ solicitor John McLaughlin insisted his client had not fallen back into his old ways but had made up the story to explain his impoverishment to hostel staff.
Depute fiscal Robbie Brown previously said detectives spent a “considerable amount of time” investigating the matter.
“Because of the serious nature of the alleged crime, the case was passed to CID,” he said. “Two officers were assigned and they checked CCTV of the area where the accused claimed he had been robbed, but they could not find anything that matched his description of the events.”
Mr McLaughlin said Lyons had spent the money on “nothing in particular” and never expected the police to investigate.
“He spent the money very quickly and had nothing left,” he told the court. “Mr Lyons had not spent the money on illicit substances but he feared staff at the hostel felt he may have returned to drug use.
“He did not expect anyone to follow up on his allegations but his key worker at the hostel told him to report the incident. Mr Lyons started the story to explain the inexplicable and quickly got involved in a web of lies.”
He insisted Lyons had “leant a lesson,” adding, “Clearly this is a serious matter but he did not set out to waste police time.”
Sentence was yesterday deferred until September 2.