Fake off! Sticky-fingered bakery boss in £68,000 theft is caught out by mystery shopper

By CONNOR GORDON FOR THE SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL Published: 21:00, 20 April 2026 | Updated: 21:10, 20 April 2026 A bakery manager who stole £68,000 was caught after bosses sent in a mystery shopper, a court heard. Taylor Curl came under suspicion after a string of discrepancies were discovered at an Aulds branch in Glasgow. The 31-year-old took the cash over a 22-month period to pay off a drug debt by voiding some or all of various purchases. Senior management then sent mystery shoppers to the bakery at St Enoch shopping centre where Curl was caught in the act. Curl, of Clydebank, near Glasgow, joined Aulds Bakery in January 2018 as a branch manager. Two years later, retail manager Lesley Marr noted ‘discrepancies’ in reports related to ‘voided transactions with substantial figures’. Mrs Marr informed her husband Alan Marr, who was a managing director, who then told financial director Craig Anderson. A further investigation by Mrs Marr and Mr Anderson was carried out. Prosecutor Ryan Watson told Glasgow Sheriff Court: ‘They were satisfied Curl was responsible. A total of £68,000 of transactions were voided.’ The hearing was told that in the previous manager’s time at the bakery, only £1,000 of transactions had been voided. A decision was taken by bosses to have mystery shoppers enter the Aulds. Taylor Curl at Glasgow Sheriff Court where she pled guilty to Embezzling £68k from Aulds the Bakers Mr Anderson was selected as one of the participants as he had never met Curl. He purchased several items, however, it was later discovered that the £1.75 he paid for shortbread had been voided. Mr Watson said: ‘Another mystery shopper ordered three coffees, an empire biscuit and a sausage roll. ‘Mrs Marr carried out a search and there was no record of the sale which was voided off.’ Curl was spoken to by Mr Anderson and was asked to give an explanation but she failed to admit to her conduct. She was sacked and the Marrs and Mr Anderson then reported her to the police. Curl pleaded guilty to a £68,000 embezzlement charge between March 5, 2018 and January 23, 2020. Mr Watson stated that there has been no repayment by Curl. Liam Runciman, defending, said: ‘She had accrued a drug debt prior to this offending.’ Sentence was deferred pending background reports until next month by Sheriff Joan Kerr who continued Curl’s bail meantime. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.