Man jailed after £6,000 break-in at Aberdeen cathedral

A north-east man who stole musical equipment worth £6,000 in a raid on a city-centre church has been jailed for 18 months.

Ian Norrie, 47, broke into the John Skinner Centre at St Andrews Cathedral on King Street overnight on Thursday, March 7.

After ransacking its kitchen and office areas – leaving a trail of emptied-out boxes and bags in his wake – he made off with a guitar, voice synthesizer and projector.

Church leaders discovered the devastation when they arrived at the place of worship the following morning and, at the time, described the scene as “an absolute horror”.

Norrie, who was described as a prisoner at HMP Grampian, appeared for sentence yesterday having admitted a single charge of theft.

Sheriff Andrew Miller told him: “There should be no doubt that this is a serious offence.

“It involved breaking into a building run by an organisation that makes a great contribution to the community.

“In addition, you have a very substantial record for crimes of dishonesty and thefts by housebreaking, although I accept the frequency of those has reduced in recent years.”