A Highland delivery driver was yesterday jailed for four months for entering a customer’s home and stealing almost £1,000 from her handbag.
Fort William Sheriff Court heard that Magnus Sinclair, 46, then hid the money under a bush in a remote area.
Sinclair, of 64 Lochaber Road, Fort William, previously admitted stealing the money from a property in Upper Scotstoun, Strontian, in July during an earlier hearing and sentence was deferred until yesterday for background reports.
Fiscal depute Karen Smith said the £1,000 bundle had been in the woman’s handbag, which was left in her living room when she and her husband went out for a walk.
On their return, she found an AJG Parcels van parked outside and Sinclair in her kitchen.
Ms Smith said he claimed to have been looking for a parcel that he had called to collect. He then took the parcel and left.
The woman later discovered the money was missing and called the police. Sinclair was stopped and searched, but the cash was not found.
Ms Smith said that police got information about the van’s movements from its tracking device. Though the money was not found, but Sinclair admitted stealing it and told police where it was.
Ms Smith said: “They searched the verges and recovered a package with £980 in it from underneath a bush, covered up with grass.”
Defence solicitor Hamish Melrose said his client had been unemployed before joining AJG Parcels on a zero hours contract, which left him worse off than when he was not working.
Mr Melrose described the incident as “an opportunist offence”.
He said: “He didn’t appreciate, until he had stopped the vehicle, how much he had taken.
“At that point, his conscience got the better of him and he was able to tell the police exactly where it was.”
Mr Melrose added that his client had shown remorse and regret for his actions and had lost his job as a result.
Sheriff Michael Fletcher told him: “This is a serious offence not only because of the amount of money involved in the charge, but also because it was committed while you were carrying out the delivery and collection of parcels.”
He said that Sinclair had a previous conviction for a similar offence and said he had no choice but to impose a custodial sentence.
