ARREST ON SIGHT
Inept burglar targeted same shop just days after being released from prison
22-month sentence, imposed last year by Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood for breaking into the shop.
McAllister’s inept thefts were captured twice on CCTV. In another blunder, he cut the wrong cables in a failed attempt to disable the cameras.
His solicitor Willie Young said: “His last conviction relates to an almost identical offence. The entire incident was a cumbersome one. There is no rational reason for this.”
The court was told that staff had locked up the shop at close of business on July 17, leaving a float of about £40 in the till.
Later that evening, a woman was waiting for a bus when a man approached her and said that he had seen a man break into Goskirk Pettinger.
Mr Urquhart said McAllister was arrested nearby, with glass fragments on his grey hoodie and the cash was recovered.
Police then checked the shop and found bloodstained glass and McAllister’s inhaler. He had been filmed by the shop’s CCTV dropping it.
Mr Urquhart added: “Below the counter, various cables had been cut in an apparent attempt to deactivate the CCTV system. However, this had not been successful.
“The recorded footage showed him punching in the door window and then returning.
“His face can be clearly seen.”