A teenager was arrested for using a fake £20 note featuring “Chinese writing” to buy a bottle of vodka in Aberdeen.
Jordan King aroused the suspicions of a worker at the Spar shop on Provost Watt Drive when he didn’t wait for his change after making the purchase on August 26 last year.
When the till assistant scrutinised the note, she discovered it was counterfeit and alerted the police.
King, of Stafford Street, appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday to admit the offence.
Fiscal depute Christy Ward said: “The accused entered the shop and asked for a bottle of Glen’s vodka, and handed over a £20 note then left before receiving any change.
“The shop worker found the behaviour of the accused to be strange and noticed that the £20 appeared to have Chinese language on it and no hologram.”
The police were called and King later admitted using tender which he “knew or believed to be counterfeit”.
Defence solicitor David Sutherland said his 18-year-old client left school at 16 and had found work as a trainee with children’s charity the Archie Foundation.
He added that the accused suffered a “meltdown” last summer when the job became “too much”, but was now “back on track”.
Mr Sutherland did not explain how King came into possession of the fake money.
Sheriff Ian Wallace deferred sentence for six months for the accused to show that he can be of good behaviour.