Father and son repaid less than half of £25,000 stolen from relative to cover drug debt

A father and son have been ordered to carry out unpaid work after failing to pay back all of the £25,000 they stole from another relative.

Ian Herridge, 71, and Michael Herridge, 43, admitted the theft to pay the younger man’s drug debts in November 2022.

They were given a deferred sentence to give them time to repay the money.

But at each hearing since, the court has heard the repayments have not been made at the required rate.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank said the two men, from Hillswick, had managed to pay £10,350.

But rather than prolong the matter further, Sheriff Cruickshank decided to “draw a line under it” and ordered them to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.

Sheriff Cruickshank said he had heard excuses before.

While he accepted the pair had made efforts to repay the money, he said the remainder would have to be done voluntarily or through the civil courts.

Sheriff Cruickshank imposed the unpaid worker order as a final punitive element of the sentence.

The court previously hear how the men stole the money from a vulnerable relative in around 150 transactions, including banks and post offices, between July 2020 and January 2021.