A MAN caught stealing computer games from the Amazon warehouse where he worked claimed they were not taken to sell on.

Brian Hughes said he had just taken the PlayStation and Xbox games for personal use.

However, when it was pointed out in court that multiple copies of the same game were stolen, he changed his story, angering a sheriff.

Hughes, 29, of Broomhill Avenue, Burntisland, appeared in the dock at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

He admitted that between March 14 and 24 last year at Amazon, Amazon Way, Dunfermline, whilst employed there as a picker, he stole a quantity of electronic game discs to the value of £1,200.

Depute fiscal Dev Kapadia said an investigation was launched by the company when goods were found to be missing.

CCTV was reviewed and Hughes was seen entering a caged area on several occasions and removing games from a shelf without scanning them.

He was then seen on the images as he left with the items in a bag.

When interviewed by the company, agency worker Hughes admitted his guilt.

Police were contacted and he told officers: “I took some games. I saw some games I wanted and just took them. It was just stupid.”

He claimed he had taken around 20 to 30 games.

Defence solicitor Danielle Valera said: “He took the games for himself. He couldn’t afford to buy them.”

However, Mr Kapadia then pointed out that the items stolen included multiple copies of the same game.

After speaking to her client, Ms Varela said her client accepted he had stolen copies of the same game.

Sheriff James MacDonald told Hughes: “The court does not take kindly to those who try to deceive it.

"We have the sharp-eyed fiscal to thank and you have put your solicitor in an invidious position.”

The sheriff decided to defer sentence further until July 24.