Justice Scales New Heights As Thief Gets To Repay Cash

By Paul Thornton

A THIEF who stole over £10,000 from the firm he worked for has been given a chance to repay the cash – after landing a job scaling buildings.

Photobooth worker Colin Smith, 35, worked for Snap Digital Imaging and travelled around Scotland collecting the takings from the passport picture booths.

But instead of banking the coins Smith pocketed the money and used the cash to pay off bills and mortgage payments.

Missing

His scam was uncovered after a company audit confirmed the cash was missing and Smith was arrested.

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court he pleaded guilty to embezzling £10,724 from the company during August 2008.

It was initially claimed that Smith took over £15,000 from the machines but a reduction in the amount was accepted by prosecutors.

Beating the credit crunch with gold coins

By Cara Sulieman

SCOTS auctioneers are beating the credit crunch by cashing in on the rising price of gold and silver.

Lyon and Turnbull are getting ready for their upcoming silver and jewellery sale in May, and have already accumulated a mountain of gold sovereigns, worth £35,000.

The price of silver has increased by 30 per cent in the last five months – leading to an increase in the number of people flogging their precious items.

All sorts of gold and silver items, from gold sovereigns to silver candlesticks are going under the hammer to raise much needed cash.

Colin Fraser from the auctioneers said: “Silver is often seen as the poor man’s gold.

“As the price of gold increases on the bullion market so does silver, it is one of the best times to sell as there are plenty of customers out there eager to buy.”

“We are planning two silver sales to meet the demand, the first will be in May and the second, an exclusively Scottish Silver and Wemyss Sale, will be held in August.

“This follows the success of our Scottish Silver and Wemyss sale last year.”

The last time the auctioneers held their silver and jewellery sale a George III Irish presentation silver gilt snuffbox sold for a whopping £9375.