A prolific motorcycle thief rode through an Aberdeen park to avoid being captured by officers during a police chase through the city.
Connor Tough, along with two friends, stole two bikes and attempted to take a further two motorcycles in the space of just days.
The 22-year-old even took a hammer to one of the vehicles to break off the lock.
When Tough was caught speeding on one of the stolen bikes by the police, he fled through a park, where the officers’ police car was unable to follow him.
Fiscal depute Jane Spark told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the first incident happened at 1.26am on June 19 2022 when Tough and two other males stole a Kawasaki from outside an address at the city’s Foresterhill Court.
Sentence a direct alternative to custody
The bike had been left secured with a chain lock but the trio were captured by a CCTV camera pushing the bike along Burnside Gardens, leaving it outside an address where it was later recovered.
Tough and his accomplices also targeted a Zonte motorbike on Donbank Terrace during their crime spree.
At 3.30am, the trio were again captured on surveillance footage trying – but failing – to break the steering lock on the bike.
Around 11.30pm on June 22 2022, the owner of a Yamaha bike heard banging from outside his home in Bonnyview Drive.
His son looked outside and saw Tough and two others striking the bike with a hammer.
He ran outside to confront the group who immediately fled on two other motorbikes.
In the early hours of June 23 2022, Tough stole a Yamaha bike from outside a property on Westray Road, despite it having been secured with a disc and chain lock around the front wheel.
Police on patrol along Westburn Drive then spotted him driving the bike with a passenger riding pillion.
They followed the bike onto Ashgrove Road West and then Cornhill Terrace, before turning onto Beechwood Road.
As the bike was travelling at “excessive speed”, the officers activated their blue lights to signal for the pair to pull over.
Social work report contained ‘six-page rant’
However, Tough failed to stop and instead drove over a grassy area into and through Cornhill Park where he was soon lost to view.
But Tough and his passenger were traced and apprehended shortly after and the bike was recovered from underneath a cover at Heathryfold Circle.
Tough, of Tawny Close, Thrapston, Northamptonshire, pled guilty to two charges of theft of a vehicle, two of attempted theft of a vehicle, careless driving, and driving without a licence or insurance.
Defence agent Iain Hingston said his client was just 20 years old at the time of the offences, which were almost two years ago.
He said a court-ordered social work report on his client was “extremely positive”.
However, he added that the report also went into a “six-page rant” about things that had “absolutely nothing to do with these matters”.
Sheriff Ian Duguid KC ordered Tough to be supervised for 18 months and to complete 180 hours of unpaid work as a direct alternative to custody.
He also banned him from driving for six months.
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