A thief who stole an Amazon delivery van and took it for a joyride around Aberdeen has been jailed.
Kristopher Simpson, 48, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted the “opportunistic” van theft outside a student union building in December last year.
It was stated that the Amazon driver returned from delivering a parcel to find his van was no longer where he’d parked it.
However, the van had a tracking device installed and was able to track the vehicle to a street in the far north of the city where it had been abandoned by Simpson.
Simpson, a former bin man, was jailed for more than three years in 2022 after he scammed vulnerable pensioners out of more than £15,000.
Driver came back to find van missing
Fiscal depute Brian Young told the court that on Sunday December 8 last year, the Amazon delivery driver began his shift and was assigned a Ford Transit van at the depot.
The vans are fitted with tracking devices and driver-activated dashcams showing both the interior and exterior view.
It was then loaded with the deliveries for the day and the driver set out on his assigned route.
But, at approximately 1pm that day, the driver parked up and carried out a delivery outside the student accommodation on Causewayend and returned to his van, which was missing.
“He immediately contacted the police and informed them that the vehicle’s tracking system was showing its location as being on Hilton Road, Aberdeen,” Mr Young said.
The driver then traced the vehicle around half an hour later, where he found it parked and secured on Hilton Road.
Upon viewing the dashcam footage, he found that it contained images of an unknown male driving the van around the city.
He then passed on the video to police, who were able to identify Simpson.
In the dock, Simpson pleaded guilty to one charge of stealing a motor vehicle.
Accused ‘deeply regrets’ decision
Defence solicitor Gary Foulis told the court that his client had admitted his guilt to this charge “almost immediately”, adding that his client had an “unenviable record” of previous offending.
“With regard to what happened here, it was an opportunistic offence,” the solicitor said.
“The van was recovered around 32 minutes after it was taken and Mr Simpson deeply regrets that – his record will obviously be the most important factor in how the court proceeds today.”
Sheriff William Summers told Simpson that he took into account that he had pleaded guilty at an early stage but that he could not ignore his record of “analogous previous offending”.
“You will recognise that there is no other appropriate alternative to a custodial sentence,” he added.
Sheriff Summers jailed Simpson, whose address was given as HMP Grampian, for a total of 20 months.
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