An Aberdeen man has been locked up after raiding a cafe and making off with a piggy bank full of tips.
Lee Paterson appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court for sentencing over the incident at the Tartan Pig on Hollybank Place in Aberdeen.
The 29-year-old had been on early release from a High Court sentence when he smashed his way into the coffee shop on February 7 and legged it with the cafe’s piggy bank mascot which was used to collect tips. It had around £60 in at the time.
And yesterday Sheriff Ian Wallace jailed Paterson for four months over the raid, which he had previously pled guilty to.
Paterson was also handed a further five-month prison sentence for breaching a restriction of liberty order over another matter.
CCTV showed Paterson, whose address was given in court papers as Summerfield Terrace, Aberdeen, smash his way into the cafe shortly before midnight on February 7, snatching the tip jar and then fleeing the scene.
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The court was previously told Paterson had been in the cafe with another man during the day, and “asked some questions of the owner”, and did the same later.
It was said the owner thought his behaviour was “generally suspicious”.
Defence agent Michael Burnett said Paterson had pled at the earliest opportunity and had committed the offence as a result of his drug use.