An Aberdeen jewellery thief pleaded for hotel staff to report him to police because he wanted “to go back to prison”.
Derek Ellington burst into the Premier Inn on North Anderson Drive and demanded that reception staff call 999 because he had just broken into a nearby hairdressers.
As the police arrived, the 38-year-old handed them two jewellery boxes – each of which contained a silver necklace – stating that he’d stolen them and demanding to be sent back to prison.
Searching Ellington, officers also found a number of lollipops concealed in his pocket.
‘I’ve broken into the hairdressers’
Fiscal depute David Rogers told the court that at around 1.10am on October 31 last year, police received a call from a staff member at the Premier Inn concerning a man who was demanding that police attend.
Constables turned up and found Ellington standing outside the hotel in possession of a blue jewellery box and a green jewellery box, each with a silver necklace inside.
Ellington approached them and immediately admitted breaking into The Barbers Pole, on Summerhill Court, Aberdeen.
“I’ve broken into the hairdressers and taken the boxes from there,” he stated.
As he was cautioned and detained, a search of his jacket found a number of lollipops within his pockets that he had also stolen from the shop.
As he was being led to a police vehicle, Ellington told the officer he had broken into the barber’s shop “because I want to go back to prison”.
He added that he had gone into the shop “to look for cash” but couldn’t find any, so he took the jewellery.
Ellington then led the officers to where he had broken through a glass panelled door to gain entry to the premises.
“I smashed the bottom one,” he told them, referring to one of the glass panels.
The owner of The Barbers Pole estimated the damage to the door to be around £1,000, while the jewellery was believed to be worth around £120.
In the dock, Ellington pleaded guilty to one count of breaking into a commercial premises to steal items.
‘Custody must be inevitable’
Defence solicitor Paul Barnet told the court that his client had an unexpired portion due to an early release from a previous prison sentence.
“He accepts that custody must be inevitable,” the solicitor said, adding that Ellington had “struggled” on previous occasions when he had been released from prison.
“This offence seems to have been committed for that purpose.”
Sheriff David Hall told Ellington that he had noted he had immediately admitted his offences to police and even taken them to the location.
However, he deferred sentence on Ellington, whose address was given as HMP Grampian, until next month in order for a criminal justice social work report and a restriction of liberty order assessment to be carried out.
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