Computers at salon 'used to sell goods on eBay'

BOSSES at an award-winning hairdressing chain investigating the theft of £76,000 of hair-straightening irons from their business discovered their own computers were being used to sell similar items on eBay, a court heard today.

Directors of Edinburgh-based Charlie Miller Hairdressing contacted the internet auction site after they discovered the popular GHD irons were being offered for sale online.

They found Mark McMorrine, the manager at their Ocean Terminal salon, had set up two eBay accounts and had been using his work computer to carry out the transactions, it was claimed.

McMorrine, 37, had not previously told his bosses he was selling GHDs online until confronted about the eBay sales, then claimed he had got his stock from other internet users, the court heard.

McMorrine, of Lasswade Court, Lasswade, Midlothian, is on trial accused of stealing hairdressing irons and products from the Charlie Miller Hairdressing salons in South St Andrew Street and Ocean Terminal between December 2004 and September 2006 and obtaining £63,000 by fraud by selling the items on eBay.

He denies the allegations.

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court, company director Joshua Miller said McMorrine was paid £40,000 a year to manage the Ocean Terminal salon – which sold the straighteners – and had worked seven days a week for two months after it opened in November 2005.

Private investigators and police were called in September 2006 when accountants found there were around 900 sets of hair irons missing from the company.

Attention quickly turned to eBay as a way of selling the items and it was discovered two accounts had been set up to sell them, said Mr Miller, 37.

The account usernames matched the private registration plates of McMorrine's car and motorbike and was based in Midlothian, he said.

When information arrived from eBay about the seller, Mr Miller said he found the computer identity codes used to access the eBay accounts matched computers in the Ocean Terminal and South St Andrew Street salons.

Many of the transactions took place late at night when the salons were closed, said Mr Miller.

"When I was shown this I was shocked to put it mildly. What it meant was that these transactions would have been done from our computers," said Mr Miller.

He said McMorrine had never mentioned selling the hair irons online before, despite knowing the site was being looked at as part of the investigation, but did not deny it when confronted.

"He said he sourced his supply of GHDs from other people on eBay," said Mr Miller, adding: "At no point did he ever produce anything to us to suggest that he had a legitimate source".

The trial continues.