A whisky auction house manager stole 45 rare bottles of spirits, duped relatives into helping him sell them, and used the proceeds to pay his gambling debts.

Andrew Grant tricked friends and family into believing he was entitled to buy the whisky – collectible bottles worth a total of almost £43,000 – at a huge discount from his work and sell it on for profit.

In fact, the operations manager was stealing some of the most valuable bottles from his employer, knowing they were worth hundreds or thousands to collectors.

Grant, from Bearsden, knew the bottles were not being tracked by Whisky Auctioneer Ltd because he was the Perth-based company’s employee responsible for failing to put a monitoring system in place.

The 44-year-old made £24,500 from the scam by tricking his brother and others into selling bottles at a variety of auction houses online – including the one from which he had stolen them.

‘You breached trust’

Sheriff Jennifer Bain KC said in court: “You breached the trust of your employer by stealing goods of very high value from them. You knew they did not have a process in place to track the whisky because it was part of your role.

“You then formed a scheme to get your family and friends involved in selling for you to fund your gambling addiction. I know you are rightly devastated and ashamed of your behaviour.”

Doug McConnell, the defending solicitor, told Perth Sheriff Court his client had an “entrenched gambling addiction”.

“He is a single man who kept [his gambling problem] to himself and had no support,” he said. “He appreciates the breach of trust, and what makes it worse was that he got friends and family involved.

“He feels dreadful about that and [it] has had a significant impact on him and his relationships with others.”

Bottles worth £42,700

Grant admitted stealing 45 rare bottles of whisky and other spirits from Whisky Auctioneer Ltd in Perth, between August and December 2021.

He also admitted acquiring and possessing £24,500 in criminal property. The court was told that the bottles were worth a total of £42,700.

Sheriff Bain ordered grant to complete 300 hours unpaid work and placed him under supervision for three years as a direct alternative to custody. 

She also ordered him to pay £2,000 compensation to Whisky Auctioneer Ltd.