Three teenage car thieves have admitted stealing luxury super cars worth hundreds of thousands of pounds from a rural home in Aberdeenshire.
Seventeen-year-old’s Liam Smith, George Cowie and Blair Thomson made off with the sports cars from outside oil tycoon Sean Dreelan’s mansion in July last year.
And yesterday the youths were warned they faced being locked up as a result when they pled guilty at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
The court heard Cowie and Thomson broke into the property at Drumduan House, Banchory-Devenick, stealing the keys for an Aston Martin Rapide, a white Porsche 911, a grey Audi A5 and a grey Toyota Land Cruiser.
Then the teens drove away with the cars in the middle of the night.
Yesterday Cowie, of 30 Provost Fraser Drive, Aberdeen, admitted driving away in the grey Audi Quattro while Thomson, of 62 Rona Place, Aberdeen, took the Aston Martin and the Toyota Land Cruiser.
Smith was responsible for stealing the Porsche 911 as well as the Toyota Land Cruiser.
A Ferrari 599 GTO was also stolen from the luxury home however the prosecution accepted yesterday that the teens were not responsible for taking it.
All the stolen vehicles were eventually recovered.
Smith, of 28 Dickson Terrace, Aberdeen, also admitted stealing a grey BMW 3 series estate on May 25 last year from Lintmill Place, Aberdeen.
Then, on June 20, Smith also stole a motorcycle from outside an address in Taransay Crescent before crashing the 600cc after driving it carelessly along the road.
Sheriff Graeme Napier yesterday deferred sentence on the youths for background reports to be carried out into their character.
However he warned them, Smith especially, that a custodial sentence was likely.
He said: “Mr Smith should be under no illusions as to what is likely to happen to him given his rate of offending and previous convictions.”
They will return to court next month.
Last night, detective chief inspector David Hadden said Police Scotland was pleased at the outcome of yesterday’s case and that the number of reported incidents involving car crime has reduced.
He added: “This now means that the victims themselves won’t have to appear in court, thus preventing them from having to re-visit a difficult experience, which can be daunting in itself.”