Court probe following Selkirk knife horror

David O'Leary • Published 17 Feb 2010 13:49 1 Comment

COURT chiefs are probing another security scare in Selkirk after a woman smuggled a blade into the dock.

Mum-of-two Gemma Moffat produced the knife and began cutting herself after being sentenced to 16 months in prison.

Lawyers and court officials looked on in horror as Reliance security guards grappled the craftknife from the 26-year-old as she plunged it into her wrist and leg.

Monday's knife scare comes more than a year after a man was stabbed on the steps of the Etrrick Terrace courthouse.

A Scottish Court Service spokesperson told the Border Telegraph: "There has been an incident where an accused, on receiving a custodial sentence, produced a knife and attempted to self harm. This incident is now being fully investigated."

Police carry out occasional metal scanning checks at all Borders courts.

But there are no plans to step up the doorway searches.

A spokesman for the Lothian and Borders force said: "Checks will be carried out from time to time."

Moffat's self-harming in the dock came just minutes after Sheriff Kevin Drummond passed sentence.

The former bank employee screamed, 'No, no, no, I can't' before producing the blade. She was later treated in hospital on her way to Cornton Vale Prison.

The court had earlier heard how the former RBS Chirnside branch worker embezzled £40,000 over six months from her elderly neighbour Phyllis Horsfall.

Moffat had gained access to Mrs Horsfall's financial details under the pretext of setting up a direct debit to pay council tax. However she instead pilfered £40,000 on seven separate occasions which she spent on a car, laptop and family holiday. None of the cash was recovered.

She roped an unwitting RBS colleague into her criminal enterprise by using his computer to internally transfer funds while she was on maternity leave.

The missing money was only discovered when a nephew of Mrs Horsfall noticed substantial amounts of money had been transferred and withdrawn from both his aunt's savings and current accounts.

Moffat attempted to blame her crimes on undiagnosed postnatal depression arising from complications during the birth of her first child.

However Sheriff Kevin Drummond said: "Your deception involved taking advantage of an elderly and trusting neighbour in the early stages of dementia."

A spokesman for Reliance said: "Our officers responded in exemplary fashion and very quickly brought the situation under control."

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• 

  Linda Lee
  Unregistered User
  Mar 1, 13:55
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  all I can say is think security needs to be tigher is it going to get to the point of a metal detector like airports have in case this happens again,
  
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