A HOSPITAL worker stole bank cards belonging to two patients and bought himself goods worth nearly £200 at petrol stations and DIY stores.

Michael Johnstone took the bank cards from the patients while he was working in a trusted position as a clinical support worker at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

Johnstone, 59, stole the first card on July 19 last year and used it to buy £21 worth of goods from the Tesco petrol station in Dalkeith.

He then grabbed a second debit card from a different patient two days later and splashed out on items worth about £175 at a B&Q store and a Screwfix outlet, both in Edinburgh.

When Johnstone was eventually caught, he offered no explanation to hospital management for his behaviour and told his employers that he did not need the cash.

'Fragile mental health'

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told that the former serviceman with the Royal Scots Regiment was suffering from “fragile mental health” at the time of the offending due to two family bereavements.

The court also heard that Johnstone, of Albert Place, Wallyford, was upset due to his employers changing his role at the hospital and that he was just 12 months away from retiring.

Johnstone, who had 30 years of experience with the NHS, pleaded guilty to charges of stealing bank cards while working at the hospital and four charges of obtaining goods by fraud when he appeared at the Capital court in May.

He returned to the dock for sentencing last week, where Sheriff John Cook sentenced him to a community payback order where he will have to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Sheriff Cook also issued four compensation orders where Johnstone will have to pay back a total of £195.23 to the two victims he stole from.