A Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) customer has been prosecuted after spending a significant amount of £70,000 that was deposited into his account in error.
Instead of immediately returning the money, Andrew Harling spent much of it on luxury goods and attempted to hide it in different bank accounts.
He was subsequently prosecuted for theft after RBS froze the account, as reported by the Daily Record.
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The court was told that the £70,000 sum was transferred into Mr Harling's account from a company as a result of a simple error in which a sort code had been incorrectly input.
By the time the bank was able to immobilise the account, more than half of the money had already been spent.
The company that sent it told him they just wanted the money back and didn't want to prosecute him - though, after being strung along by Mr Harling, eventually went to the police.
Now the 33-year-old, of Stuart Gardens, Throckley, Newcastle, has been given a suspended prison sentence at Newcastle Crown Court after pleading guilty to theft.
It was on January 8 2019 that a mechanical engineering company based in Surrey sent £70,930 to Harling instead of another company which was the intended recipient.
On the same day, he moved £35,000 to his then-partner's account and she transferred £9,000 back to him.
Thomas Parsons-Munn, prosecuting, said: "A number of substantial purchases were made by her, including jewellery and a holiday."
On January 10, Mr Harling transferred £44,000 from his current account into his savings account then withdrew £10,780 in cash from ATM machines.
In May, having been made aware of the issue, the bank froze the £25,130 that was left in the account.
The boss at the business then contacted Harling in October asking him to send the money back.
Harling said he was a gambling addict and believed the windfall had come from winnings but that he was speaking to his bank and would send back what was left.
In November 2019 a further £8,089 was frozen by his bank and returned to the company.
In total, £33,220 was returned by his bank and £37,710 remains outstanding.
The court heard the trusted and respected finance manager at the firm, who made the one digit error, was so devastated she insisted on quitting despite her boss pleading with her not to.
She has been left "extremely depressed" by what happened.
Harling, who has nine previous convictions, pleaded guilty to theft and was sentenced to 24 weeks suspended for 12 months with a three month curfew.
Tony Cornberg, defending, said Harling is remorseful and "heartbroken" at the effect it has had on the finance manager.
He added: "The money landed in his account and temptation got the better of him."
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