eBay Fraud case thrown out of Court

A Sheriff at Glasgow has dismissed all charges against a client of Beltrami & Co who was put on trial accused of taking payment for an online sale without delivering the goods.

The client was arrested after the sale, via eBay, resulted in a complaint being made to a police force in England. He was interviewed by police and accused of trying to sell the same item several times over. But he told police that he had given the buyer details of the recorded delivery slip used to send them.

After the Crown presented their evidence, criminal defence solicitor Nick Nimmo made an argument of 'No Case To Answer'. It's a central rule in Scotland that, before there can be any conviction, the Crown have to show that there is evidence from two independent sources. This is known as Corroboration.

Mr Nimmo pointed out that, although the buyer had given evidence in court, what he said had happened was not corroborated by anything or anyone else, such as phone calls, emails or text messages, and nor had there been any investigation through eBay or Royal Mail. The buyer claimed he never received the goods, but our client denied he still had them or had tried to sell them again.

After considering matters at length, the Sheriff dismissed the Crown case. Our client, who did not have to go into the witness box in the case, thanked Mr Nimmo after he was acquitted.