A shoplifter who went on a crime spree across Moray to feed his drug addiction was spared jail when he appeared in court yesterday.
Despite acknowledging that a report on 29-year-old Steven Noble made “pretty unhappy reading” Sheriff Jack Brown gave him three months to clean up his act prior to sentencing.
Noble, of 70 Glenesk Road, Lhanbryde, admitted he stole candles from the Allaburn farm shop on Elgin’s Edgar Road on Wednesday, April 8.
He also admitted to taking bottles of whisky from the Co-op shop in Buckie’s East Street on Saturday, April 25.
The court heard that all of the items were sold in order to pay for drugs.
The sheriff said: “I will defer sentence on you for three months, for you to be of good behaviour and to demonstrate to the social work department that you have the motivation to cooperate with them.”
Sheriff Brown added that if Noble failed to change his ways by late October, or offended in the meantime, there was “every likelihood” he would be jailed when he next appeared.
