A ROSYTH petrol station manager has been jailed after stealing takings in a bid to pay off family debts.

A total of £7,500 was taken from the Shell Filling Station on Queensferry Road in Rosyth between January 1 this year and June 30.

Appearing for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court on Wednesday, Paul Daly, 29, was told his actions were "a gross breach of trust" by Sheriff Charles Macnair and was jailed for four months.

Depute fiscal Kiran Uppal told the court that there was a system in place at the petrol station to deal with customers' transactions when a malfunction in their systems occurred.

Manual vouchers were filled in and emailed to head office and the transaction amounts would be reimbursed.

A discrepancy between the manual vouchers and the money was detected and an area manager visited the premises to start an investigation.

When questioned by police, Daly, of Glencairn Street, Camelon, Falkirk, admitted the offences, saying he put the vouchers into the computer and had taken the money.

Defence solicitor Martin Morrow said his client had family debts and commitments which he and his partner had been unable to meet. 

"He had got to the stage that he was running to stand still and, as a consequence, he seems to have acted in this way and come to the attention of the authorities."

Mr Morrow said Daly had worked at the filling station since leaving school and worked his way up the ladder to become manager but had now destroyed his career. 

Sheriff Macnair told Daly there was no appropriate alternative other than a custodial sentence. "This was a gross breach of trust by a person in a senior position within the petrol station," he said. "You were the manager and you stole a large sum of money.

"It must be clear to people that embezzlement from employers will not be tolerated. Employers can trust their employees with money and, if that is breached, then the consequences will flow from that."

After Daly was sentenced, the case was also continued for a further four weeks for an issue regarding compensation to his employers to be looked into.