A failed jewel thief escaped jail yesterday after carrying out a botched £20,000 raid on a shop in Aberdeen.
Daniel Koterbski, 37, snatched two rings and a bracelet from a window display at Northern Diamonds on Union Street.
He then made a dash for the door, but the owner Oscar Ozdaslar grabbed him in an effort to stop him escaping with his stock.
As the jeweller tried to wrestle Koterbski to the ground the haul slipped out of his hand and he fled the scene.
Police caught up with the would-be thief a few weeks later and he admitted the crime.
At Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday, he was sentenced to a 240-hour community payback order and placed under supervision for a year.
Fiscal depute John Richardson said Koterbski, of flat a, 11 Seaton Drive, Aberdeen, had walked into the store around 9.20am on August 5 last year.
After asking Mr Ozdaslar questions about a bracelet, he grabbed the jewellery from an opened display cabinet, then ran for the door.
Mr Richardson said: “There was a struggle.
“The items that the accused had dropped from his hand at that point.”
The court heard the father-of-one admitted the attempted theft of an £8,000 bracelet and two rings – one valued at £9,000 and another at £3,000 – when he was interviewed by police the following month.
He told officers he had a drug problem and that his heroin use had caused him financial difficulties.
Defence lawyer Liam McAllister said his client had informed the police that he had no intention of hurting anyone and had run away because he was scared.
He said Koterbski had shown empathy for the victim and recognised that a shop owner should not be subjected to the possible threat of theft.
Mr McAllister said: “He has asked me to convey his apologies to all those concerned in open court.”
Mr Ozdaslar previously said he was disappointed as the jewellery had not been recovered.
He did not want to comment yesterday.