A court heard yesterday that a drug addict, who smashed his way into a city shop to fund his habit, relapsed because of the death of his aunt.
Alexander McDonald, 36, broke into Isabelle Randall Dress Design in George Street, Aberdeen, and started loading his pockets with jewellery, headphones and a range of other goods.
A man who lived nearby heard the noise caused by the broken glass, saw McDonald, who was on bail at the time for another offence, and called police.
Depute fiscal John Richardson told Aberdeen Sheriff Court: “The owner of the business closed up at 5.30pm on February 24 this year.
“On February 28, at about 1.30am, a member of the public in the general vicinity heard the sound of broken glass coming from a nearby property.
“He went to investigate and saw the accused in the building. The police were called and arrived almost instantly. They noticed the same thing.”
McDonald was ordered out of the building and was noted to have sustained a fresh cut to his finger. He was detained by police.
As of April 17 this year, he has been serving another 12-month sentence for the original offence.
McDonald, whose address was given as HMP Grampian in court papers, admitted breaking into the shop and attempting to steal a quantity of paperwork, plastic bags, two phone handsets, and a charging socket. He also stole a set of headphones and jewellery.
A desk-mounted computer and two landline telephones were also taken, and it was accepted someone else must have been involved.
Defence agent Lynne Bentley said: “He was released from prison for his last sentence in May 2016. He had been co-operating with the probation service.
“What appears to be the trigger for the relapse was that his mother died when he was a child. He and his siblings had been cared for by a maternal aunt, who died a matter of days before this incident occurred.
“He was under the influence of what he informs me was streetsourced diazepam.”
Sheriff Graeme Napier told McDonald: “This was a commercial premises and has had an impact on this woman’s business. You have a significant record. You had appeared to be making progress.”
He jailed McDonald for 12 months consecutive to his current sentence.