A man has admitted stealing a car from outside an unoccupied house and selling it for scrap.
Gary Shearer spotted what he claimed he thought was an abandoned Renault Megane in Portlethen.
He then took it upon himself to recover the vehicle, without checking to see who owned it, before selling it on for £100 to a scrapyard.
The car’s owner only discovered what had happened when he drove past the yard and saw it sitting there.
Yesterday, 34-year-old Shearer appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted theft.
The court heard that the owner of the vehicle had parked it up outside one of his unused properties and left it there for a few nights.
Fiscal depute Stephanie Ross said that on January 12 he drove past his house and noticed that it was still parked there secure and undamaged.
However, later that day he was advised by a relative that the car had gone.
When he went to the property he saw glass lying on the ground where the driver’s window would have been.
Three days later the man was driving along the Parkway in Aberdeen and noticed his car sitting in the scrapyard there.
Miss Ross said when he inquired about the car, he was told Shearer had sold it to the yard.
The car was valued at about £400.
Representing Shearer, of Flat D, 5, Balnagask Road, Aberdeen, solicitor Mike Horsman said that his client had, at the time, been running his own vehicle recovery business.
He said that Shearer had noticed that the car had not been moved for some time and presumed it had been abandoned.
He then took it upon himself to use his lorry and recover it.
Mr Horsman said that Shearer now realised it was a “foolish” decision and something he deeply regretted.
The solicitor urged the court to deal with the case yesterday, but Sheriff Kenneth Stewart said it was a serious matter which required background reports to be called for.
Shearer will be sentenced next month.