Gumtree advert for puppies that didn’t exist sees Moray woman end up at Elgin Sheriff Court

A woman who took deposits for a litter of puppies which didn’t exist has been ordered to pay back everyone.

Kaitlyn Brown has been given four months to reimburse everyone who put money up front to get hold of a Japanese Spitz puppy.

Elgin Sheriff Court heard that the defendant was aged 21 when she advertised the puppies for sale on Gumtree in January 2022.

She had previously been in contact with the owner of an adult female Spitz who lives in Fort William.

Brown then travelled there on four separate occasions, accompanied by a male Spitz, so that the two adult dogs could mate.

Defence solicitor Matthew O’Neill said the Fort William owner had wrongly told his client that the female Spitz had become pregnant.

However, Mr O’Neill admitted: “It was a misapprehension by herself which could easily have been clarified if she had taken the appropriate steps.

“She ran too far with the information provided.”

The court was told that the police first received a complaint from a member of the public on January 11, 2002

This was closely followed by five more complaints from others who’d paid money to Brown but were no closer to receiving a puppy.

A subsequent investigation found 15 different people had paid deposits of between £100 and £200. This amounted to £1300 in total.

Brown admitted a single charge of obtaining money by fraud.

Mr O’Neill stated that his client, who’s now aged 24, had been in financial difficulties at the time of the offence, but was now hoping to be able to pay everyone back within the next four months.

Sheriff Eric Brown told Brown, whose address was given in court papers as Thornhill Drive, Elgin, to return to the same court on January 16, 2025.