New contactless twist to fraud crime in Lanark store

The charge still read that at Morrisons store in St Vincent Place, Lanark, on January 30, Good presented the card, which had been stolen, to an employee and pretended that he was the owner of it, despite it being a woman’s, and induced the employee to supply him with cigarettes and gambling cards in exchange, obtaining goods to the value of £47.83 by fraud, but it added the line that he had presented it by placing it next to a payment point.

Good, 36, of St Leonard’s Road, Lanark, pleaded guilty to that at Lanark Sheriff Court last Wednesday and also admitted that he reset the bank card, which had been stolen.

A plea of not guilty was accepted to a charge of using the card to obtain goods by fraud at the McColls store in Lanark’s Bannatyne Street.

Depute fiscal Ziad Hassan told the court that the card owner contacted the police after receiving a text message from her bank indicating that a successful transaction had taken place.

The police then asked to see the store’s CCTV, and on that they saw Good entering the shop with a card in his possession and motioning it towards the bank card machine, using the contactless payment system, then receiving the purchases.

Questioned later, Good said that he had been given the card to use by “a pal”.

Good had previous convictions, and his solicitor, Archie Hill, told the court: “His position is that he found the card in Morrisons car park.

“Old habits, in his case, and he decided to go into the shop to see if it would work.

“There was one transaction, caught on CCTV.”

Mr Hill added that Good, only released from prison in July last year, had had problems with substance misuse but is now in full-time work and no longer taking drugs.

“He chanced his arm and was caught,” said Mr Hill.

Sentence was deferred for reports.