A thief was chased down by neighbours after being spotted acting suspiciously with a bag of electronics outside an Aberdeen address.
Martins Veznieks was spotted by residents on Sunnyside Terrace behaving in a suspicious manner with a blue holdall bag outside an adjacent property.
The residents “gave chase”, caught up with the 39-year-old and “escorted” him back to the property where they called the police.
Veznieks had faced a charge of theft by housebreaking, but the Crown accepted a guilty plea to a lesser charge of theft by finding.
The incident happened on January 8.
Fiscal depute Darren Harty told Aberdeen Sheriff Court: “On the date in question, outside the locus, the accused was observed with a blue holdall bag.
“Neighbours in the adjacent property observed the accused acting suspiciously and, as a result, gave chase and caught up with the accused.
“He was escorted back to the property and police were tasked to attend.”
Accused stole bag to sell items
When asked what was in the bag, Veznieks was “not in a position to say”.
He told police officers he had found the bag and taken it.
The items inside the bag, electronics, earphones, and foreign currency, were recovered.
Defence agent Laura Gracie said her client had been unemployed at the time of the offence, putting him and his family under “significant strain”.
‘This appears to have been an opportunistic offence’
She said: “When he saw the bag he took it with a view to selling the items.”
Sheriff William Summers told Veznieks, of Stirling Street, Aberdeen: “The charge originally libelled was a charge of theft by housebreaking.
“That is a very serious charge and, if convicted of that, you man have been made subject to a custodial sentence.
“You have pled guilty to a much less serious charge, which is theft by finding.
“This appears to have been an opportunistic offence and there was full recovery. I’m prepared to deal with this by imposing a fine.”
He ordered Veznieks to pay a fine of £320.
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