A serial car criminal has been jailed for 15 months after he stole two cars and two pedal bikes.
Kenneth Balgowan, whose address was given as HMYOI Polmont, appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday after admitting the offences at an earlier hearing.
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The court had previously heard that the 21-year-old stole a Volkswagen Golf and an Audi A3 from the Kincorth area and broke into another property where he took a key on April 16.
He was spotted alongside two other men on CCTV in the area but could not be identified.
On the same night he struck again in Cults when he broke into a garage and stole two pedal cycles as well as some tools.
Appearing for sentencing yesterday, Balgowan’s defence agent Paul Barnett acknowledged he had a number of previous convictions.
But he said he had been complying with a restriction of liberty order which had been imposed by the court last year.
However, Sheriff William Summers pointed out that his latest crime had been carried out while he was still subject to the court restrictions.
Mr Barnett said Balgowan had been remanded in custody since he was charged with the offence which had given him time to “reflect on this type of behaviour” and he was now behaving in a more mature manner.
And he also said that he was in a position where he might benefit from social work help, as an alternative to a prison sentence.
But Sheriff Summers said he could not ignore his lengthy record and jailed him for 15 months.
He said: “These are very serious offences and you have a number of directly analogous convictions.
“It seems to me that there’s no alternative to a custodial sentence.”
It had previously emerged in court that Balgowan was only caught after an associate, who had been detained by police in relation to another matter, revealed details which incriminated him.
He had been placed in detention in February 2016 after he drove dangerously around the maternity unit at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary while being pursued by the police.
Sheriff William Summers deferred sentence for reports until next month.
