A bungling thief was described as “a nuisance to society” by his own solicitor yesterday after they admitted stealing a £2,500 Rolex watch from an unlocked car outside an Aberdeen hotel.
Charles Smith tried the doors of a number of vehicles parked on Justice Mill Lane, near to the Travelodge hotel, on December 5 last year before hitting the jackpot.
Unfortunately for the 51-year-old, his actions were captured on CCTV, with operators making a swift call to the police.
Officers were en-route as CCTV operators trained their camera on Smith and filmed him entering the passenger-side-door of a blue Volvo.
Fiscal Gavin Letford told Aberdeen Sheriff Court: “They observed the accused drop a shiny silver object on to the pavement, which turned out to be a Rolex watch worth £2,500.”
“He had also taken a bag worth £80 and a tin of deodorant worth £3.50 from the car.”
Smith was at it again on February 20, when he broke into an unlocked Ford S-Max car parked on Pitstruan Place in Aberdeen and stole a pair of binoculars worth £250.
On this occasion, the theft was witnessed by the owner of the vehicle himself and he called police, who shortly thereafter arrested Smith and retrieved the item.
Smith, of Constitution Street in Aberdeen, appeared at the court yesterday to answer two charges of theft from vehicles.
Defence agent Graeme Murray said Smith had been acting with a co-accused when the watch was taken and blamed his client’s offending on a long-standing drink problem.
Mr Murray said: “He is a petty criminal and this is related to his alcoholism.
“He is a nuisance to society because of his propensity to steal when he is drunk.”
Sheriff Phillip Mann sentenced the accused, who also admitted breaching his bail conditions on two occasions, to 100 hours of unpaid work.
But Sheriff Mann told him: “If you are seen to be pinching from cars again in the dark of night, and you come before me for sentencing, your feet will not touch the ground before you are put straight into custody.”
