Drinks licence revoked after Camelon mother stashed £24,000 of suspected drugs money under bed
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Members of Falkirk Council’s licensing board heard that Lucy Jane Macauley, who lives in Camelon, had been given a six-month restriction of liberty order after police searched her house and found £24,120 in a shoe box under her bed.
The search was carried out last March following a tip-off and she was convicted in June of a contravention of the Proceeds of Crime Act.
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Hide AdMs Macauley said she had not been working at the time as she was looking after her son, and had agreed to look after the cash “to make ends meet”.
She was spared jail as she had a young child to look after, but she was given a six-month restriction of liberty order, and later all of the cash was confiscated.
At the licensing board hearing today (Wednesday), Sergeant Liam Livingstone said her actions had put her at risk.
He said: “By her actions, Ms Macauley is indebted to an unknown third party, strongly suspected to be an organised crime group or an individual involved in organised crime. She has placed herself seriously at risk of corruption which with a connection to any licensed premises gives serious cause for concern.”
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Hide AdMiss Macauley told the board that she needed her personal licence to work in the future.
She told the board: “When this all happened, I had no intention of getting myself into trouble. I’m just trying to better my life now after making a very silly mistake.
“I’m relying on my personal licence for future jobs.
“I’ve always worked in bars. I’ve got an SVQ in health and social care and I’ve done caring, but obviously with this happening I’m not going to be able to do that.”
Convener of the Licensing Board, Niall Coleman said: “This is a very serious matter which we’ve heard some mitigating circumstances for.
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Hide Ad“However, I do feel that it’s necessary under the licensing objective of preventing crime and disorder that Miss Macauley has her personal licence revoked.”