A man has been fined after stealing a bicycle on Christmas Day.
William Petrie, 47, was stopped by police while in possession of the bike and admitted taking it from a communal hallway in a block of flats.
Fiscal depute John Richardson told Aberdeen Sheriff Court: “The accused is stopped by police officers on George Street at around 5pm.”
Officers asked him about the push bike and he was “quite frank” in telling them “he had entered an unsecure communal hallway and taken the bike”.
Petrie, whose address was given in court papers as Catherine Street, Aberdeen, pled guilty to the theft of a bike from an address on George Street.
The offence was committed while he was on bail. Defence agent Dylan Middleton said his client had been “desperate for a means of travel at the time”.
He said: “He says he spoke to a lady within the block of flats who said the bike had been sitting there for a number of weeks. He saw an opportunity and took it.”
Mr Middleton added his client had an “extensive record” but had “turned his life around”.
Sheriff Graham Buchanan ordered Petrie to pay a fine of £230 at £10 per fortnight.
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