A man has been banned from approaching houses and offering to carry out work ahead of going on trial accused of stealing hundreds of pounds from a north-east pensioner.
Brian Ward denied nine charges at the city’s sheriff court yesterday, including one of stealing a bank card in Newmachar on Thursday and taking £500 from a cash machine.
The 27-year-old also denies stealing a bank card from an elderly woman, using it to pay for goods in the village Co-op and attempting to withdraw another £850 from the Post Office counter within the shop.
Ward, who is banned from driving, entered further not guilty pleas to allegations of being behind the wheel of an uninsured van, with a crack obscuring the driver’s view and insufficient tread on the tyres, in Aberdeen on Friday.
The accused, of Stewartston Road in Coalisland, Northern Ireland, was bailed ahead of a trial in January.
But prosecutors requested two special conditions before agreeing he be released from custody.
Sheriff Graham Buchanan agreed to ban Ward from entering Brownhill Drive in Newmachar and from approaching residential properties and offering to carry out work unless he is invited to do so.
The sheriff added: “If you were to break any conditions of bail you would be arrested and punished.”
Ward will also be required to attend a video identification parade, if given a week’s notice by police.