A compulsive stealer who stole over £2,500 of cash and belongings from employees at more than half a dozen Aberdeen city centre businesses has finally lost his freedom.
Serial thief Colin Mosdell targeted staff areas at His Majesty’s Theatre, Jam Jar, Marischal Square, King Street Dental Practice, the Music Hall, Foodstory, Bargain Buys, and The Foundry.
The 38-year-old, who in the past spurned opportunities to attend drug rehab, helped himself to thousands of pounds worth of electronics and cash.
He also stole workers’ bank cards and used them to fraudulently buy goods at newsagents.
Most of Mosdell’s offences involved sneaking into properties and then making off with the stolen goods.
However, on one alarming occasion when he was caught red-handed, Mosdell assaulted a woman, knocking her to the floor before fleeing the crime scene.
Fiscal depute Kirsty Martin told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the first incident happened between 8.30am and 12.40pm on November 8 2023.
Mosdell crept into the staff room of King Street Dental Practice where he stole a bank card and set of keys from a handbag.
A few days later, on November 11, Mosdell was seen “looking suspicious” at the Music Hall around 10.35pm.
Ten minutes later, a member of staff finished her shift and noticed her handbag, which she’d left in the staff room, had been moved.
Her purse, containing her driving licence, bank cards and £30 in cash had been stolen, along with a pair of Beats headphones.
The following day, a Tesco employee near the Castlegate end of Union Street realised her cardholder had been taken from her jacket pocket.
Mosdell then used the woman’s card to attempt to purchase £59.56 of items from News and Chews on Bridge Street.
On Monday, November 20, Mosdell visited the same Tesco store and loitered for several minutes before going through a staff door into the warehouse and stealing an employee’s bicycle worth around £200.
At some point on November 23, Mosdell entered a staff room at Marischal Square and stole an employee’s rucksack and a laptop that was worth £300.
Inside the rucksack were a pair of headphones, a cycle lock and an electric shaver worth around £240.
The next evening, between 6.30pm and 8pm, Mosdell entered a staff area and office at The Foundry on Holburn Street.
He stole an employee’s rucksack containing a driving licence, personal documents, a wallet and bank card, all worth £152.
He also stole a company laptop worth £430.
The following week, Mosdell targeted Union Street-based Bargain Buys on November 28.
At 4.30pm, an employee walked into the staff room and caught Mosdell rifling through a jacket.
When challenged, Mosdell said he was “looking for an item”.
The worker told Mosdell he knew the jacket did not belong to him and escorted the unwelcome visitor out.
Afterward, the employee checked his own jacket pockets and discovered his £129 Beats headphones, a phone charger and £60 in cash were missing.
The same day, Mosdell turned up at Resident X on the ground floor of Marischal Square.
Staff witnessed him “acting suspiciously” and then running out of a fire exit.
An employee realised Mosdell had stolen his bag containing Sony headphones, clothing, a wallet with bank and ID cards and keys.
On his way home from work later, he discovered a hoodie that had been in his bag was discarded on St Nicholas Street.
At 2.30pm the next day, Mosdell targeted Foodstory on Thistle Street where he helped himself to a £350 iPad Mini, £200 Apple Airpod Pros, a charger and wallet containing £93 in the staff room.
In doing so, he also either dropped or discarded a £100 Apple stylus pen.
On November 30, Mosdell’s offending escalated when he went to His Majesty’s Theatre and entered an office while a female employee was counting the float.
On seeing the woman, Mosdell said “hello” and made the excuse that he was looking for the toilets.
She told him the toilets were at the other end of the office and Mosdell walked towards them.
Shortly after this, she was sitting at her desk when Mosdell reached around her from behind and grabbed a bag of coins worth around £20.
Initially, the woman thought it was a colleague playing a prank and grabbed hold of his hand.
But when Mosdell made a second grab for the bag, she turned around and realised he’d returned.
He then pushed his forearm into her back, forcing her down before reaching over her and grabbing £30 in notes.
When Mosdell let go of the woman to reach out for her mobile phone from the desk, she managed to stand up.
‘Appalling and lengthy record’
But the unrelenting thief shoved her, causing her to fall to the ground, and then ran out of the office through a fire escape.
The stricken employee tried to give chase but Mosdell ran away, escaping with around £70 cash along with her mobile phone.
Mosdell’s next victim were at Jam Jar on Bon Accord Street on December 6.
Around 8.25pm, he entered the bar, asked to use the toilets and walked towards the stairwell.
An employee later found Mosdell in the staff room crouched down next to the safe.
He challenged Mosdell and escorted him out, but not before the thief had managed to steal another employee’s bag containing her purse and bank card.
Mosdell then used the stolen bank card to buy £77 of goods from Sweet News on Crown Street.
Mosdell, thankfully now a prisoner of HMP Grampian, pled guilty to no fewer than 12 charges, including nine of theft, two of fraud and one of assault and robbery.
Defence agent Stuart Beveridge said his client has lived with a drug problem for “many years”.
Addressing the assault and robbery charge incident at His Majesty’s Theatre, Mr Beveridge acknowledged it was the “most serious”.
He added: “This was a spontaneous thing. His intention was simply to snatch and steal the bag but there was a struggle and the woman was knocked to the ground.”
Sheriff Andrew Miller told Mosdell: “You have an appalling and lengthy record.
“You have been given opportunities in the past to accept help with your substance misuse issues and as recently as October last year you were given the opportunity to carry out a community order and were allocated a space in a residential rehab facility but didn’t engage.”
The sheriff ordered Mosdell to be jailed for 28 months, backdated to December 8 when he was remanded in custody.
For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen as well as crime and breaking incidents, join our Facebook group.
