Conman Jailed for 18 Months
A man who “invented a family” in order to con a co-worker out of £30,000 has been jailed for 18 months. Alexander Shields, of Edinburgh, told Lynn McFarlane, a fellow employee at Scottish Water, that he was experiencing marriage problems over their daughter and wished to begin a relationship with McFarlane.
Shields then convinced McFarlane to take out various loans and increase an overdraft in order to help him out of matrimonial difficulty. However, Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard that Shields had effectively invented a wife and daughter in order to take money from McFarlane.
Defending Shields, Peter O'Neill told the court that the former Scottish Water employee was suffering from a gambling addiction, which caused his lies to spiral out of control. Sheriff Neil MacKinnon, while sentencing Shields, told the court that his “behaviour in this matter was not only dishonest it was calculating and callous”.
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