Serial thief is jailed for three years

Goods valued around £100K

A Lanarkshire man who stole luxury cars and goods from a number of county homes worth at least £106,283 has been jailed for three years.

Garry Holmes had gone on trial on charges of theft and breaking into houses.

The 28-year-old denied a total of 11 charges covering addresses in Hamilton, Stonehouse, Cleghorn and Law.

Following a seven-day trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court in July, Holmes was found guilty by majority verdict on three charges covering the theft of two cars, car keys and a speaker from a house in Stonehouse’s Millholm Gardens on March 7 or 8 this year.

He was also found guilty by majority verdict on four charges covering the break-in at Silverholm Drive, Cleghorn, and the theft of three cars there on March 9 along with car keys, jewellery, power tools, cash, vodka and clothing.

The jury also found Holmes guilty unanimously on two charges involving the theft of a car, television, a sound bar, a remote control, cash, a watch, sunglasses, car keys and a driving licence from an address in Hamilton’s Candytoft Wynd on March 14 this year.

The jury returned majority not proven verdicts on two charges involving the theft of a car from a house in Law’s St Andrew’s Drive on March 20 along with car keys, jewellery, a laptop, an electrical notebook and cash.

Holmes had further denied a charge of possessing cocaine at his home in Wishaw’s Birkshaw Brae.

But during the course of the trial admitted the charge.

At the court last month, Sheriff David Bicket jailed Holmes for three years on the charges involving the cars and 30 days’ imprisonment on the charge of possessing cocaine, to run concurrently.

The term was backdated to March 26.

Holmes was also placed on a 12-month supervised release order following the jail term.