A woman stole almost £2,000 worth of Lego from an Elgin supermarket – so she could pay for playdates for her daughter.
Lucy Miller stole boxes of the plastic bricks from Tesco in July, and later sold them over social media.
Elgin Sheriff Court heard yesterday that the 32-year-old was driven to commit the thefts so her daughter could go on outings with her friends.
The 32-year-old previously admitted five charges of “stealing large quantities of construction toys” on dates between Tuesday, July 12, and Saturday, July 23.
But, despite hearing that only a small fraction of the pilfered playthings were recovered by police, Sheriff Chris Dickson decided just to admonish Miller.
The mum, of Main Road in Alves, first appeared in the dock last September but sentence was deferred for six months for her to be of good behaviour.
When she returned there yesterday, the court learned that only £350 worth of the £1,750 of Lego which she stole had been recovered.
But her solicitor, Stephen Carty, highlighted “positive” criminal justice social work reports about his client and said she was now studying at college.
He said: “She made a foolish error becoming involved in this.”
Sheriff Dickson said: “I was considering imposing a compensation order, but given the limited income of the accused I believe that would have an adverse effect on her child.”