A bouncer at a Greenock nightclub has been shown the door after he admitted stealing a customer’s mobile phone.

Long-serving steward Christopher Kelly was relieved of his duties at Word Up after he took the device belonging to clubber Stephanie Galbraith while he was working at the Dalrymple Street venue two years ago.

He admitted to ‘theft by finding’ at the popular nightspot on December 27, 2014, and in June this year accepted an offer from the procurator fiscal to pay Mrs Galbraith £350 compensation.

The offence will now remain on his record for two years.

Mum-of-one Mrs Galbraith, 30, claims the bouncer took the phone – which contained treasured pictures of her young son – while she was enjoying a night out with friends and then sold it on eBay, ignoring a text message from her husband with contact details pleading for its safe return.

Mrs Galbraith told our sister publication the Greenock Telegraph: “He’s stolen it then sold it. Unless you don’t have any morals, you know it’s wrong.”

Club bosses have since conducted a probe into the theft, and today confirmed that Kelly is no longer working at the venue.

A spokesman for Word Up said: “Following an internal investigation, the door steward in question is no longer employed by us.

“Furthermore, we will not allow this sort of activity to bring into disrepute the reputation of the nightclub nor damage the relationship we have with our customers.”

Mrs Galbraith, who is from Greenock, was on a Christmas night out two years ago and had left her iPhone in the pocket of the jacket she put into the club’s cloakroom.

When she collected it at the end of the night her mobile was missing.

Club staff, including Kelly, were said to have helped search for the phone after the venue closed but they were unable to find it.

The device was presumed lost or stolen until it surfaced on eBay and was bought by a businessman in Yorkshire, who spotted Stephanie’s husband’s text message and made contact.

"It was then discovered that the seller’s username – ‘swordfish_bite’ – matched that of Kelly’s PlayStation account ID and an investigation was launched by police, who questioned the Greenock door steward.

Mrs Galbraith says she was told Kelly had got the phone from Word Up lost and found and had no way of contacting her.
But she said: “He couldn’t get it back to me but someone from Yorkshire could.

“He’s supposed to be looking out for people who are vulnerable.

“He has taken advantage.

“He’s a grown man and knows it was wrong.”

In a letter to Mrs Galbraith, the procurator fiscal said: “The police provided me with a report about the incident.

“There was enough evidence in law to allow me to take action, either by prosecuting the case in court, or by giving Christopher Kelly the opportunity to pay compensation to you at this early stage.”

Kelly has agreed to pay £350 at a rate of £5 per week.