A north-east man who staged a late-night raid on his local shop was found by police a short time later in an “extremely intoxicated” state and surrounded by bottles of stolen drink.
Wayne Florence, 47, spent “several minutes” using a hammer to smash his way through the glass door of the Co-op on Commerce Street, Insch, on the evening of Monday, July 29.
After gaining entry to the shop, he removed several bottles of alcohol from shelves and slipped them into his pockets before escaping to a quiet spot nearby to drink them.
Police soon caught up with him, however, with Aberdeen Sheriff Court hearing they discovered him heavily under the influence and covered in tiny cuts and fragments of glass.
Fiscal depute Katy Begg said one of the shop’s staff raised the alarm after disturbing the raider during an evening walk with her partner.
The couple said Florence shouted at them to “stay back” while he helped himself from the aisles.
They saw him drop the hammer beside the broken glass pane as he did so.
Ms Begg said: “Police searched the area and came across the accused in a grassy area beside Insch High Street.
“He appeared to be extremely intoxicated and had a number of minor cuts to his legs.”
The 47-year-old caused about £4,500 of damage during the smash-and-grab, but police were able to recover most of the stolen alcohol.
As Florence appeared for sentence yesterday, solicitor Lynn Bentley said her client was working towards becoming teetotal in the hope it would prevent him from getting into further trouble.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin ordered Florence to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work and banned him from leaving his house on Foudland Crescent, Insch, between the hours of 7pm-7am for the next four months.
She also imposed a further 120 hours of unpaid work for failing to pay fines totalling £600, relating to the 2015 theft of a bottle of alcohol from the same Co-op and a drink-driving offence.
