A YOUNG woman has been slapped with a fine for “undermining the whole economy”.

Kirsty Taylor appeared at Alloa Sheriff Court after she admitted using fake cash to try and buy an iPhone.

The young woman appeared in court in May after previously pleading guilty to the charge while on bail.

She then had her sentence deferred so that she could focus on her health and appeared on Thursday, September 20, to find out her fate.

Susannah Hutchison, prosecuting, told the court that the accused entered Phone City, Mill Street, at around 1.45pm on February 9 of this year.

After picking up an iPhone, she presented the cashier with a pile of £20 notes with a £10 note on top.

“The £10 was real but the £20s were fake,” the prosecutor said.

“The cashier told her they were fake, Taylor went into her purse where there were more fake notes. She then said she had been given them by her cousin.”

The notes were confirmed to be very poor quality fakes which didn’t have any security markings on them, according to Ms Hutchison.

Mr Robertson who previously appeared for the 21-year-old, told the court in May that this was a crime different to Taylor’s previous in the sense that there was no physical harm to others.

Claire McCarron, representing Taylor last week, told the court that her client is currently on a community payback order (CPO) until September of next year.

Sheriff Wyllie Robertson appeared to challenge the genuineness of the guilty plea as he said she denied committing the offence in a criminal justice social work report.

He told Taylor: “You have a very bad record, one which started, rather spectacularly, when you were just 13.

“This is a crime which undermines the whole economy.”

Taylor, of Dundas Crescent, Clackmannan, was handed a £450 fine.