iStockA supervisor who was the ringleader in a £30,000 designer clothes theft scam has avoided jail.
Tyreece McDonald, 24, was the inside man for the scheme at the Footasylum store in Glasgow’s Silverburn Shopping Centre.
McDonald and other staff members pretended to scan high-price goods – such as clothes and trainers – handed to them at the till by three collaborators.
It was later discovered that low value items such as shoe cleaning wipes had been put through the till instead.
The loss to the business saw the firm pull the shutters on the branch which cost the jobs of 15 employees.
However, McDonald made off with a £3,000 redundancy payment before a probe uncovered what had gone on.
McDonald, of the city’s Priesthill, pled guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to a £29,000 theft charge.
He was tagged for eight months by Sheriff Mark McGuire who ordered him to stay indoors between 7pm and 7am.
He was also told to do 200 hours of unpaid work and put under supervision for 18 months.
The sheriff had previously told him: “This is one of the most breathtaking cases of dishonesty I have been involved in during my quarter of a century in criminal law.”
The court heard that Footasylum’s profit protection specialist was made aware of irregularities at the store.
The investigator recovered CCTV from the store during his investigation which led him to focus on a transaction done by McDonald.
Fiscal Lauren Donnelly said: “The length of the till receipt did not reflect the large quantity of items which McDonald sold to the customer.”
The investigator reviewed transactions which McDonald had conducted during the period of the scam.
It was found that there were numerous items of low value such as shoe cleaning wipes or socks.
Ms Donnelly added: “On viewing CCTV, [the investigator] saw that the customer was provided with high value level goods which was not reflected on what was scanned through the till.”
The hearing was told that visits to the store by “collaborators” were pre-arranged with staff.
Ms Donnelly said: “The person would give high value goods to staff who would remove the tags from them.
“Rather than scan it through the till, the staff member would scan a low value item and the person would pay for the item, giving the impression that all goods were paid for legitimately”
Ms Donnelly stated that McDonald carried out the process 30 times with an estimated loss of £29,000.
She added: “The company concluded that the shop was not profitable to retain.
“A decision was made to close the shop and of the 22 members of staff, 15 were made redundant and lost their jobs.
“McDonald received £3,000 in a redundancy payment while the remaining staff were relocated to other shops in Glasgow.”
The hearing was told that co-accused Lewis Holmes, 23, had entered the shop on three occasions and made off with £2,500 of clothing and accessories.
Josh Richardson, 22, visited twice and stole £3,000 of items while John Mack, 57, attended on three occasions and took £2,500 of goods.
The matter was reported and McDonald was traced when he made admissions to police about his role.
He stated that he was suffering from a cocaine addiction and needed the cash to fund his habit.
Ms Donnelly added: “He said that the scheme spiralled out of control and he did not know all those involved personally.”
Richardson, Holmes and Mack, also all of Priesthill, each pled guilty to theft as well.
Richardson was tagged for four months and must stay indoors between 7pm and 7am. He was also put under supervision for 12 months.
Mack received 180 hours of unpaid work.
Holmes – who was unable to attend a previous hearing – will be sentenced next month.
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