A man has avoided jail despite telling a sheriff he had a “compulsion” to steal.
Robert Charles was ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work in the community yesterday when he appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court to be sentenced for taking his mother’s bank card and withdrawing £100.
The 26-year-old, who had previously been representing himself, had told Sheriff Graeme Napier he stole the card because “the situation presented itself”.
At the time, when Charles first appeared and admitted committing the offence, fiscal depute Karen Dow told the court Charles had been visiting his parents at Seafield Avenue in Aberdeen on December 8 when he took the card without permission.
He then went to an ATM and withdrew the cash.
Ms Dow said that when his mother contacted the police she said she thought Charles might have taken her card as he had stolen from her before.
Addressing Sheriff Napier at the time Charles said he did not know why he committed the offence.
He added: “It’s this problem I have, it’s a kind of compulsion.”
He said he did not have any money as he worked as a volunteer at the British Heart Foundation collecting furniture donations.
Sheriff Napier said Charles should not be trusted to enter people’s homes while working for the charity as he had previous convictions for theft.
The sheriff added that it would be likely Charles, of 29 Ash-Hill Place, Aberdeen would face a custodial sentence when he returned to court.
However yesterday Sheriff Annella Cowan said she had read the reports carried out into the background of Charles and said she was willing to deal with it by means of a non-custodial sentence.
She ordered him to carry out the hours within the next six months.