A serial pigeon thief from Moray is free as a bird after avoiding another jail sentence by promising to change his ways.
Dean Wells managed to convince Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov that he was a new man when he appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday, having been held in remand since late September.
The court heard he had written a heartfelt letter to the sheriff opening up about his past problems with drugs and vowing not to re-offend.
The 24-year-old was granted bail despite a string of theft convictions.
He landed in the dock yesterday after being caught loitering suspiciously around a property in the town’s Hermes Road on Wednesday, September 28.
Wells, of 155 Kingsmills, Elgin, later admitted a charge of being there “without lawful authority”, and with the intention of committing a theft.
His lawyer, Brent Lockie, said: “My client has had a myriad of sentences, but he’s never opened up about his underlying problems before.”
Sheriff Pasportnikov told Wells he was “required to be at liberty” to address his difficulties.
The accused was sentenced to a drug treatment and testing order, meaning he will be regularly checked to see if he has used illegal substances.
He was granted bail on the conditions that he remain at home between 7pm and 7am, and signs in at Elgin Police Station between noon and 2pm every day.
Wells has been described as having a “fixation for small creatures”, and has a history of stealing birds which stretches across five years.
He was ordered to wear an electronic tag for six months in 2011 after taking four budgies from his great-uncle.
When police arrived at his home to question him on the matter, Wells was found with two of the pets stuffed into the pockets of his jacket.
In 2012, he was sentenced to six months of detention after stealing pigeons worth more than £17,000 from a coop in Elgin.
Last August, he was sentenced to seven months behind bars when he was caught smuggling prized racing pigeons up his jumper.
In May, Wells was jailed for another three weeks after he admitted creeping into his grandfather’s garden in the middle of the night and stealing 24 racing pigeons.
