A sneak thief ransacked a woman’s flat in Aberdeen and stole her iPhone off a bedside table – while she slept just inches away.
Dylan Davidson, 26, was described by his own solicitor as “not a master criminal”, as he admitted a string of late-night thefts.
The criminal – who was caught after selling his loot to Cash Converters under his own name – targeted properties while the owners were inside asleep, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
Fiscal depute Dylan Middleton told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the woman had taken the rubbish out at 1.30am on February 24, but failed to lock the door on returning inside.
Mr Middleton said: “The complainer turned off all lights within the property before getting into bed, placing her iPhone on the bedside cabinet on charge.
‘Friend’ stole Dylan Davidson’s benefits
“She awoke at 6.45am in a panic, wondering why her alarm had not sounded.
“When she got up she noticed that the hallway and spare bedroom lights had been turned on during the night and that her laptop had been removed from her suitcase in the spare bedroom and was now on the floor in the dining room.
“She saw that her chest of drawers and pantry cupboard in the dining room had been opened, and various personal effects had been removed from the drawers and left on the floor.
“The only thing missing was her blue iPhone which was in a black case that contained her bank card, her bus pass, an Aberdeen shopping gift card worth £30 and £20 in cash.”
Overnight between February 21 and 22, Davidson also entered an insecure vehicle belonging to a woman on Hamilton Place, stealing paperwork and a key for her husband’s vehicle.
Aberdeen couple slept as thief crept into home
Davidson then stole the husband’s car, which was found later that day following a crash.
In another incident, overnight between February 22 and 23, Davidson crept into an address on Bonnymuir Place, while a husband and wife slept.
It is thought the front door had been left unlocked.
The couple awoke at 4.45am to find lights switched on throughout the house, the front door ajar and the vestibule door wide open.
Clothing was strewn on the floor and a pair of trainers and two laptops, one of which was valued at £1,200, were missing.
A handbag containing £100 was also stolen, along with a Nintendo Switch games console.
Mr Middleton told the court: “The police were contacted and subsequent CCTV inquiries at Cash Converters identified the accused attempting to sell the games console.
“None of the other stolen items were recovered.”
In yet another incident, a resident on Camperdown Road went to bed and left his front door unlocked for his son, who had forgotten his keys.
‘He just went and tried doors’
Around 10.30am the following day, February 26, he noticed his car was not outside and discovered the spare keys that hung in the hallway were missing.
The man contacted the police and, checking his Ring doorbell footage, saw Davidson enter the house at 12.45am and leave two minutes later.
The car was recovered from a car park opposite Davidson’s address.
On March 2 or 3, Davidson again crept into an address on Hamilton Place while the owner, who had forgotten to lock the back door, was asleep.
When the man got up and went to leave for work he noticed his front door was ajar and a set of keys had gone from a wall hook.
Outside, he saw his car was missing and a black jacket and Beats headphones case were lying in the garden.
The car, valued at £13,000, was later found in a car park at Charlotte Gardens with bodywork damage.
On March 3 on Beattie Avenue, Davidson used a rock to smash the window of a taxi parked outside the owner’s home and stole £50 in cash, cigarettes and a driver’s manual.
Davidson, of HMP Grampian, pled guilty to three charges of theft, three of theft of a vehicle and one of theft by forcing open a locked vehicle.
Thief receiving dog therapy while in prison
Defence agent Leonard Burkinshaw said his client had been staying with a friend in Aberdeen at the time of the offences.
But he explained the “friend” turned out to have used Davidson’s details to divert and create new benefit payments to his own bank account.
As a result, he was left with no money and also struggling with a drug habit.
Mr Burkinshaw said: “A combination of these factors resulted in him committing these thefts.
“He just went and tried doors. It’s really sneak thefts.
“Not being a master criminal, Mr Davidson sold the items to Cash Converters in his own name.
“He didn’t make it difficult for the police.”
The solicitor said Davidson suffered from mental health difficulties but was benefiting from “dog therapy” within prison.
Sheriff Andrew Miller told Davidson: “A sentence of imprisonment is the only appropriate response from the court.
“I appreciate you didn’t break into any of these houses by forcing locked doors or the like, but it has to be recognised it must be unsettling for anybody to have their house entered in this way and have items stolen while they’re asleep during the night.”
He jailed Davidson for 28 months.
For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen as well as crime and breaking incidents, join our Facebook group.
