Washing line theft hours after release

A crook was spotted stealing clothes from a washing line in Hamilton just hours after he was freed from prison.

James Whiteley was chased and caught after stuffing items worth more than £200 in a holdall.

This week, a sheriff sent him back to jail, saying the Covid-19 crisis had scuppered his chances of supervision in the community.

Whiteley, 49, of the Blue Triangle homeless unit in Portwell, Hamilton, appeared at the town’s sheriff court on Monday.

He admitted stealing clothing from a line in Donaldson Street on Friday (June 5).

Whiteley has five pages of previous convictions.

On Friday, he was released from HMP Addiewell after serving half of a 30-month sentence for trying to rob a man at knifepoint in Blantyre.

The court heard he was spotted later that day outside flats in Donaldson Street.

He was pressing door entry buzzers and then took items from the washing line.

Whiteley was challenged by a resident. He was“extremely intoxicated”but still managed to run off with a holdall containing clothes.

A member of the public chased and caught him and the bag, with clothes valued at £210, was recovered.

Defence agent Jackson Bateman suggested that, despite Whiteley’s record, the court could consider a community payback order rather than another jail sentence.

Mr Bateman said:“he has a drug problem and periods in custody have not solved that.

“There has been no formal social work intervention since 2013.

“If given support he could break out of this cycle of offending.”

But Sheriff Ray Small said that wasn’t an option in the current climate.

He told Whiteley:“on another day I might find that a robust community package would help.

“The trouble is social work can’t service that just now because of Covid-19. There would be next to no supervision.

“This offence is not particularly serious, but what makes it so is that it was committed within hours of your release from a lengthy sentence.”

Whiteley was sent back to prison for two months.