A thief walked into a family home and disturbed a mother as she put her child to bed, a court has heard.
Adam McQuarrie told the woman that the vehicle he was travelling in had broken down outside and needed fuel.
But when he left, the family discovered that £630 of garden tools had been taken.
McQuarrie, 30, appeared at Tain Sheriff Court to admit a single charge of theft in relation to the incident at Lamington, near Tain, on June 15 last year.
Fiscal depute Naomi Duffy-Welsh told the court that the woman had been putting her four-year-old to bed when she heard a person moving around and assumed it was her husband.
But when she looked up an “unknown male” had poked his head around the door.
Thief apologised for scaring woman
He apologised for scaring her and said he was looking for help after the vehicle he was travelling in had broken down nearby.
Ms Duffy-Welsh said that the woman had not heard anyone knocking at the door before McQuarrie appeared.
The woman’s husband, who was woken by the sound of someone in his home, went to explore and discovered that items had been disturbed.
A leaf blower and a strimmer had been taken.
Police were called and when they arrived found the missing leaf blower and strimmer in the rear compartment of a white pickup truck stopped near to the scene.
Children visited nearby property
The court heard that on the same evening the occupant of a nearby property heard a knock at their door around 9.45pm and opened it to find two children on the doorstep saying their father had broken down nearby and needed diesel.
The driver of the pickup confirmed that McQuarrie had been a passenger in the vehicle when it stopped. He was unaware of how the tools came to be in his vehicle.
McQuarrie was later identified as the man who had been present in the family’s home.
Solicitor Ashley Pollock, for McQuarrie, whose address was given on court papers as Westford, Alness, told the court her client had been in the grips of drug addiction at the time of the offence.
Sheriff Gary Aitken deferred sentencing to next month for the production of a criminal justice social work report.
