Former assistant manager of Fisher's Hotel appears at Perth Sheriff Court on theft charges

Dec 4 2009

THE trial of a former assistant manager at a Highland Perthshire hotel, accused of stealing almost £20,000 from the premises, might not take place until February of next year.

Twenty-five-year-old Keith Martin Christie was to have been tried at a jury sitting starting at Perth Sheriff Court on December 14.

But his counsel asked for an adjournment yesterday to allow the defence more time to prepare their case.

He explained that there was “pressure of time” on a January jury sitting – and the case could be moved into the February sitting.

Christie, whose address was given as c/o The Star Inn, Wychill, Woking, has denied stealing £2,220 from Fisher’s Hotel, Pitlochry, on January 4, 2009.

A second charge alleges that he and a co-accused, 23-year-old Mark Corbett, of Finnieston, Glasgow, stole a further £17,028 from the premises on January 3/4.

Christie and Corbett also face a further charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice at the hotel on January 4 in a bid to cover up their involvement in the £17,028 theft.

It is alleged that being conscious of their guilt in respect of that charge, and with their faces masked, they brandished a knife at another hotel employee, Harprit Takkar, ordered him into a room and locked him in.

It is alleged that they did all that in a bid to defeat the ends of justice.

Christie also denied a further charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice at the hotel – and at Perth Police HQ – on January 4.

It is alleged that he pretended to officers that he and Mr Takkar had been confronted by two masked men – and had been threatened with a knife.

The men are alleged to have demanded to know where the hotel takings were, stole Christie’s mobile phone, locked him in a room and robbed him of a sum of money.

Christie also denied a further charge of being concerned in the supply of the Class A drug cocaine at Fisher’s Hotel between December 1, 2008, and January 4, 2009.

A further preliminary hearing will now take place on Friday, December 11.