A post office worker who was convicted of misleading police over a £24,000 knifepoint robbery is actually a “victim” of crime, her former boss has said.
Fiona Buchanan, 43, was working in the Crown Stores sub-post office in Inverness when a knifeman entered the business and ordered she hand over the five-figure sum of cash.
A major police investigation was launched but the robber has never been caught and the cash was never recovered.
But Buchanan has now appeared in Inverness Sheriff Court and admitted giving police incorrect information about the incident.
Her solicitor told the court she gave the false account because she was frightened of the person who carried out the robbery – and it’s an explanation the owner of Crown Stores agrees with.
Jim Earley told the Press and Journal: “Fiona was a good member of staff. It wasn’t her that was involved in the theft.
“I honestly believe there was somebody else involved. She didn’t profit from the crime. Somebody else did.”
Buchanan, of Gilbert Street in the Highland capital, was previously charged with embezzling £24,740 from the shop on July 11 2017.
Buchanan’s defence solicitor advocate Mike Chapman told Sheriff Robert Frazer: “She did not provide a full explanation to police about what happened because she was frightened of the man who carried out the robbery.
“But there was a robbery, a knife was pointed at her and money was taken. She has had drug and alcohol issues in the past but she has overcome her problems.
“She is also a first offender, which is surprising given her age of 43 and her background. There has been nothing since.”
At a previous hearing, the court was told that Buchanan was working the back shift at the post office from where an order was placed for £26,000 cash to be delivered by a security vehicle.
It arrived around 3pm on July 11 but at 10.16pm Buchanan phoned the police to report the robbery.
Police then investigated, interviewing witnesses and checking local CCTV footage.
Buchanan was arrested on February 1, 2019 on suspicion of theft.
The court heard in an agreed narrative between prosecution and defence: “The accused’s statements and account of a robbery were found to be at odds with CCTV evidence.”
‘She was more a victim than anything’
Mr Earley said his former employee was a “victim”, not a criminal.
The sub-postmaster believes that although Buchanan “has her faults” she had nothing to do with the heist because she wasn’t even scheduled to work at the time when it happened.
He explained: “She was a last-minute substitute that came in on that night.
“I think she made an innocent comment to someone else that she was going in and that message was passed onto somebody else who went in and threatened her.
“I actually think she was more a victim than anything.”
Mr Earley said the robber had taken all the CCTV equipment from the shop, which hampered the police investigation.
No forensic evidence, which could implicate the culprit, has ever been found either.
Mr Earley said: “We lost all the CCTV. There was nothing the police could really do. They were at a dead end, so Fiona was the easy option.
“The police could never really find the right person, so, she was the easier target.
“I can’t do anything about that. I’d obviously like the robber brought to court.”
Sheriff Robert Frazer placed Buchanan under two years’ social work supervision and ordered her to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work as an alternative to prison.
He told her: “What you have done not only wasted police time, but you detracted police resources from where they should be. This makes it more serious.”
Speaking about the aftermath of the robbery, Mr Earley added: “It affected us as we had an awful lot to do to restore trust with the Post Office.
“We had just recently managed to get the Post Office after years of trying to get it.
“We were the first place in Scotland to get a Post Office back in an area where one had closed.”
