A Menstrie man stole £950 from his own father after duping unsuspecting telephone banking staff.
On Thursday at Alloa Sheriff Court, Ryan Muir admitted pretending to be his dad on the phone to TSB employees on various occasions between April 4 and May 12, 2016.
The 25-year-old, of Windsor Street, provided details and the correct password, and then fraudulently transferred £950 from his father’s bank account into his own.
It was stated that the loss of money has since fallen on the bank.
Muir arrived in the dock with the intention of defending himself.
Sheriff Christopher Shead delayed the hearing to give the accused time to read the unflattering Criminal Justice Social Work report that painted Muir in a “bad light”.
During the recess Muir received legal advice from Krista Johnston.
The gravity of the offence had clearly sunk in, as he then had to fight back his tears whilst sitting in the public gallery.
When the case was recalled, Ms Johnson claimed that Muir took issue with some of the information in the CJSW report.
She stated that he has never been convicted of assault, nor has he ever been on probation.
It was put to the court that the accused could possibly have been mistaken for his cousin, who has the same name.
Ms Johnson disclosed that Muir had difficulties and when at school he was reported as having a mental age of five when he was eight-years-old.
Sheriff Christopher Shead sentenced Muir to a Community Payback Order with supervision for 18 months and 120 hours of unpaid work to be completed within nine months.
Sheriff Shead also granted a Compensation Order for £950.