A drug addict who stole thousands of pounds worth of jewellery from his disabled grandmother to pay off mounting debts has avoided jail after she told a court she forgave him.
David Adamson broke into a locked safe filled with 50 years worth of his granny’s jewellery before taking it to a pawn shop.
He then received £360 in exchange for the haul which was estimated to be worth almost 40 times that.
Yesterday the 28-year-old appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court to be sentenced having previously admitted stealing the jewellery as well as £1,500 in cash he withdrew using her bank card and PIN number.
But despite previously being told to expect a custodial sentence from Sheriff Graeme Napier, Adamson was given one last chance to get his life back on track after his grandmother wrote a letter to the court.
Within the letter the 71-year-old, who is wheelchair bound, stated forgave him for stealing the jewellery she had collected over the last 50 years and she continued to allow him to live with her.
The court heard Adamson had also made “huge efforts” to make amends for what he had done and had since repaid all the money he stole and had saved enough cash to buy back her pawned jewellery.
Sheriff Napier said that the offences were “particularly nasty” as they were committed against a person who “cared for him and tried to support him”.
However he said he could see Adamson, of 7 Shapinsay Court, Aberdeen, had taken significant steps to make it up to her.
As a result the sheriff placed Adamson under supervision for a year and ordered that he carry out 200 hours of unpaid work in the community within the next nine months.
Speaking after court the serial offender broke down in tears and said he was ashamed of his actions.
He said: “I’m thoroughly ashamed of what I have done and the pain I have caused my granny. We have a very close relationship.
“I was in a lot of trouble at the time with mounting debts and I couldn’t see another way out. I was desperate.”
The court heard that since the offences, which were committed between January 16 and March 15 this year, Adamson has taken steps to address his drug addiction.
Adamson’s solicitor Bob Anderson said he had been attending the Timmer Market. He said this had been so successful he was no longer required to attend and was receiving help from his GP.