A man has been convicted of stealing £500 at a Ladbrokes betting shop to feed his gambling addiction.
Defendant John McGuinness was caught on CCTV lifting the cash from the counter in October of last year. He chatted up the staff while nonchalantly lifting the money. McGuinness then ran out the back of the store, and was eventually tracked down by police.
McGuinness pleaded guilty to the crime, with his attorney saying: "He takes full responsibility and pled guilty at the earliest opportunity. This was not a premeditated act, but something on the spur of the moment. He advised shop staff this would be his last bet as he was losing all his money.
"He does accept he has a gambling problem and in this situation he was putting bets on and losing money and shop staff recognised that as well."
McGuinness was fined £333 for the crime. The cash stolen was not recovered.
Comments
That's quite saddening- when the addiction takes over so much that people go out in real life to convict crimes. I believe he was quite lucky to not have more serious repercussions after what he did.