A Buckie tenant has admitted stealing the contents of his rented house after he was evicted.
Marley Atkins, 34, appeared at Elgin’s Sheriff Court to stand trial for the theft, which occurred in 2021, but submitted a plea of guilty.
Atkins, now at Burnend Cottage, Dufftown, had been renting a property at Blair of Tynet, near Buckie, owned by Maureen Burrows.
Speaking outside court, Mrs Burrows, 69, said she was relieved the case had now been dealt with.
Explaining that Atkins had been renting her property for three years until his eviction in December 2021, she said: “Communications broke down after two weeks of him moving in.
“He tried to block off the road, which you just cannot do when you live out in the country. People just want a quiet life.
“I eventually asked him to leave, but he refused to go. He is still due me three months’ rent, which amounts to £1,800 and he has taken it upon himself to pay me back at 25p a week.”
Estimating this would take around 138 years to repay, Mrs Burrows shrugged and said: “I don’t really care – I’m just glad to be rid of him.”
‘He left the place in a complete mess’
The items Atkins stole from the property were listed as a washing machine, fridge freezer, a bed, bedside cabinets, bedding, towels and cutlery.
Mrs Burrows also said there had been an antique washstand, which she believes Atkins sold, she added: “He left the place in a complete mess. We had to spend around £5,000 to repair it in order to rent it out again.
“He had also tried to say I had stolen things from him, which was absolute rubbish. I never got anything back, I’m presuming he’s sold it.”
Fiscal depute Sharon Ralph said there was still some confusion about what items had been returned and which were “still outstanding” and asked for a deferral of sentence to “sort it out”.
Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood deferred sentence for reports and “further clarification” on the unaccounted-for stolen items.
Atkins must return to Elgin Sheriff Court on November 23.
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