A thief broke into an Aberdeen Nisa Local store through the roof, stole almost £2,000 of alcohol and then tried to flog it from a child’s buggy.
Lee Paterson wore a balaclava as he smashed his way into the shop on George Street, Aberdeen, in the dead of night.
The 33-year-old loaded baskets with bottles of drink and then made off from the crime scene.
But Paterson was later caught trying to sell the stolen goods out of a child’s buggy.
Fiscal depute Carol Gammie told Aberdeen Sheriff Court a resident living near the store was woken by the sound of a trolley and “bottles rattling” at 4.30am on February 2.
Fallen roof tiles and smashed bottles found on floor
On looking out of his window, the witness saw Paterson – dressed all in black – walking towards the rear door of Fraser Court.
“The accused was pulling a shopping basket on wheels behind him,” Mrs Gammie said.
He was seen entering the block of flats and, shortly afterwards, a light on the top floor came on.
The manager of the Nisa branch arrived to open the outlet at 5.40am and came across fallen roof tiles lying on the floor.
He immediately called the police to report the break-in and, when officers arrived, they discovered a number of smashed bottles on the floor.
£1,881.71 of alcohol missing
Mrs Gammie told the court: “The store manager reviewed the CCTV. The footage showed that, at 4.21am, the accused entered the store through the roof, having forced entry via a skylight.
“The accused subsequently opened the rear fire door, affording entry to a second person.
“The accused filled shopping baskets with items from the alcohol aisle, before leaving through the fire door at 4.27am.
“He wore a balaclava, a dark-coloured puffer-style jacket, dark-coloured tracksuit bottoms and dark-coloured trainers.”
A shop stocktake revealed alcohol – including bottles of Glen Moray whisky and Desperado beer – worth a total of £1,881.71 had been stolen.
Police found Paterson ‘hiding in a wardrobe’
Around 4.30pm the same day, a man in Fraser Court bumped into Paterson, who offered to sell him Desperado beer, Glen Moray whisky and other spirits.
Paterson was pushing the products around in a child’s buggy.
Some of the alcohol was later recovered from a hallway at the block.
The next day, officers found Paterson “hiding in a wardrobe” inside a property at Fraser Court while they carried out a search warrant.
He was arrested and more of the alcohol was recovered from the flat.
Paterson, a prisoner of HMP Grampian, pled guilty to theft by housebreaking.
He also admitted to a separate charge of being concerned with the supply of heroin at a flat on Jute Street in Aberdeen, on November 22 last year.
Package discovered ‘between the accused’s buttocks’
Mrs Gammie told the court that police had attended the flat looking for another person who was wanted on a warrant.
But after forcing entry, they saw Paterson running into the bathroom and “either removing or concealing items in his underwear”.
Mrs Gammie explained: “A cursory search was carried out and three small wraps containing a brown substance fell from the accused’s shorts.
“A further package was observed to be in the accused’s anus.”
A total of £1,285 in cash was recovered from Paterson’s pocket, he was arrested and then a “full search” was undertaken at Kittybrewster custody suite.
Mrs Gammie went on: “The package previously seen between the accused’s buttocks fell to the floor, a white bag was recovered – containing 17 wraps of brown substance”.
The substances were confirmed to be £1,000 worth of heroin.
Paterson ‘got in with the wrong crowd’ and had to pay a drugs debt
Defence agent George Mathers said his client had “got in with the wrong crowd” and become involved with drugs, which had “essentially ruined his life”.
He said Paterson had built up a drugs debt and “pressure” was put on him to pay that off.
The solicitor said “heavies” had “physically battered” Paterson on two occasions previously and that his family had also been threatened.
He said: “The drink stolen wasn’t for consumption, it was for selling to get money to pay back these people. He was frightened of these people”.
Mr Mathers explained that the drugs offence had been committed for similar reasons, due to pressure from those to whom he owed money.
Sheriff Philip Mann told Paterson that such scenarios are a common occurrence for those involved in drugs.
“You will come up against individuals who want to extract a pound of flesh from you from time to time,” he added.
The sheriff jailed Paterson for a total of 32 months.
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