An embezzler who helped herself to over £3,000 from a Wester Ross hotel lied about her age and pretended to be someone else when police caught her.
Marian Aitkenhead, who was actually in her late 50s, told officers that she was just 36 years old and claimed to be someone else.
She gave them a false name and knocked a couple of decades off her age when she was questioned by police.
Aitkenhead, now aged 61, was living at Glaik Cottage, Balmacara at the time of her crime.
She is now on remand awaiting a hearing on an extradition bid to Ireland, Inverness Sheriff Court was told.
‘I am very sorry it has taken so long to come to court’
Aitkenhead represented herself in court where she pled guilty to an embezzlement scheme that spanned from May 16 until July 1 2018.
She also admitted to perverting the course of justice and failing to appear for a court hearing on the same charges four years ago.
Apologising to Sheriff Gary Aitken, the offender said: “I am very sorry it has taken so long to come to court”.
Fiscal depute Emily Hood said that Aitkenhead was employed at the Balmacara Hotel and transferred £3,007 into her then partner’s bank account over a period of months.
When he saw the transaction, which he didn’t recognise, he quizzed her about it and was told it was perfectly legal and the hotel knew about it, Ms Hood said.
But further investigations revealed that the hotel knew nothing about the transfer and the police were informed.
When police officers questioned Aitkenhead in November 2018, she told them her name was Mariane O’Shea but could not provide any identification as proof.
She then claimed that the transfer was an error and she would repay the money.
However, she did not.
Sheriff Aitken reviewed Aitkenhead’s previous convictions and noted that she had previously been jailed in County Donegal for three years for offences of dishonesty.
He jailed the woman for a total of four months.
For all the latest court cases in Inverness as well as crime and breaking incidents, join our new Facebook group.