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Thief broke in and looted Aberdeen flat as occupants slept

James Smith managed to get into the ground floor flat at Adelphi through an unlocked window.

Aberdeen Sheriff Court
The case called at Aberdeen Sheriff Court. Image: DC Thomson.

A thief broke into an Aberdeen flat and helped himself to a games console, wallet and alcohol – all while the occupants slept just feet away.

James Smith managed to get into the ground-floor flat at Adelphi through an unlocked window.

The brazen criminal then set about grabbing loot from the living room while being careful to remain quiet and not wake the occupants.

But Smith, 41, who also admitted a string of other theft offences, has now been locked up.

Fiscal depute David Ballock told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the occupants of the flat went to bed around 1.30am on April 24.

He said: “At around 9.30am on the same date, the occupiers entered the living room of the property and found that a wallet, a PlayStation games console and a rucksack had been stolen from within.

Golf clubs and bike worth £1,000

“The accused was identified on CCTV in possession of the stolen wallet.

“There was no recovery of the items stolen.”

A bottle of alcohol had also been taken.

Smith also broke into another flat, this time on the Lang Stracht, on October 26 by smashing a bedroom window.

The owner, who had been out briefly in the afternoon when the incident occurred, returned to discover the scene.

Mr Ballock said: “Upon entering the property, the owner found that a cupboard door had been opened and a Nokia mobile telephone and bottle of methadone had been stolen from within.

“Blood staining was found on the window frame of the bedroom where the windows had been smashed and within the property.

Smith had been addicted to heroin

“This blood was subsequently analysed and found to be the accused’s.”

The stolen items were not recovered.

Smith further forced open two sheds on Auchmill Road in Aberdeen and stole property on May 26 or 27 last year.

From one, he stole a set of golf clubs and a bicycle worth £1,000, and from the other he took a pressure washer.

None of the items were recovered, but DNA evidence once again proved Smith’s undoing as he left behind a pickaxe that he had handled in one of the sheds.

Smith, of HMP Grampian, pled guilty to two charges of theft by housebreaking and two of theft by opening a locked shed.

Defence agent Graham Morrison said his client had fallen into heroin addiction.

Sheriff Ian Wallace jailed Smith for 14 months.

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