A criminal who stole a minibus to drive home from prison and was caught because he left his release papers on the front seat has been branded “inept”.
Gerard Graham had been freed from HMP Grampian for no more than 20 minutes when he stole the taxi from a petrol station in Peterhead.
He abandoned the vehicle 30 miles away in Aberdeen but left the crucial clue to his identity behind.
And it wasn’t the end of the 30-year-old’s ineptitude.
He next stole his girlfriend’s car and left another damning piece of evidence behind – his prison travel voucher, containing his name and release date.
Graham’s own lawyer, Alex Burn, branded the crime spree “absolutely insane” before adding: “I don’t wish to be disparaging to Mr Graham, however, this is perhaps some of the most inept and unsophisticated criminal behaviour I have ever seen.”
Fiscal depute Lucy Simpson told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the taxi’s owner was midway through refuelling when Graham jumped in and drove off on October 28 last year.
“The owner’s phone was still within the taxi so, using a tracking feature, he was able to locate the direction of travel of the vehicle,” she said.
“Police searched for the accused using that information. He travelled from Peterhead to Aberdeen and officers saw the vehicle travelling on Maberly Street but lost sight of it.”
Officers found the taxi abandoned on Charlotte Street at 6.30pm, around an hour after it was stolen.
Taxi was badly damaged
It sported a broken window, damaged wing mirrors, dents and scratches and Graham’s HMP Grampian release papers.
Meanwhile, Graham was breaching his bail conditions by paying a visit to his ex-partner before making off, unbeknown to her, with her car.
She woke the next morning to news Graham had taken the vehicle and left it parked up in the Bedford Road area.
Miss Simpson said: “He had given friends the car keys and told them that he did not want the police to find him with it.”
It didn’t take police long to deduce he been behind the wheel, however, since he left his prison release travel voucher, containing his name and release date, lying on the driver’s seat of this car.
Graham was eventually traced in Millbank Lane the following morning, in possession of a stolen bicycle he told officers he’d found on Craigie Street.
He pled guilty to six charges, including two thefts of a vehicle, driving without a licence, driving without insurance, theft of a bike and breaching bail conditions.
‘It would be hard to make this up, my lord’
Defence agent Alex Burn said it was an “absolutely absurd” chain of events carried out by Graham.
He said his client had walked from the South Road prison to the filling station on Buchan Way and “opportunistically” taken the taxi while its keys were inside.
“He failed to notice the phone which acted as a tracking device,” Mr Burn added. “And as if that’s not enough he leaves personal papers in the taxi.
“It’s absolutely insane. This was something that was not thought out. It was not planned.
“He later leaves HMP Grampian documents in the second car. It would be hard to make this up, my lord.”
Close calls with the minibus
Following the theft, Peterhead-based firm Makas Taxis apologised to other road users on Facebook, saying: “We apologise for any inconvenience or close calls there was tonight between Peterhead and Aberdeen involving our silver minibus.
“Unfortunately the minibus bus was stolen tonight and was involved in a few accidents which were fled from so we can only imagine the amount of close calls there was.
“We have had a few phone calls about the way it had been driven. Thankfully, people were very understanding about the situation.”
They added the minibus was left “seriously damaged” and would be off the road for the foreseeable future.
Sheriff Andrew Miller called for background reports and a restriction of liberty order assessment to be carried out and deferred sentencing of Graham, a prisoner at HMP Grampian, until next month.
There was no motion for bail and Graham remains remanded at HMP Grampian.
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