Masked thugs at house
Colourful window art lifts the spirits
Cheery children are continuing to brighten up Hamilton and surrounding towns amidst the doom and gloom of Covid-19.
Youngsters are still creating colourful rainbow pictures and sticking them in their windows in a bid to make people smile.
Others have simply painted watercolours straight on to the window.
With the country being put into lockdown by the UK Government the
Masked thugs looking for money used a wheelie bin as they tried to batter through a carwash owner’s front door in the early hours.
The trio also smashed a glass panel with a For Sale sign and an ornamental dog, but brave Scott Linden wouldn’t let them in.
One of the gang, Dean Mclees, 26, was jailed for 22 months at Hamilton Sheriff Court.
He admitted attempted robbery at the house in Dee Path, Holytown, on November 14.
Neil Thomson, prosecuting, said Linden was wakened at 2.20am by a loud bang and the sound of breaking glass.
Thomson told the court:“linden went downstairs and noticed glass all over the hallway.
“An ornamental dog from the garden appeared to have been used to smash the door panel.
“At least three men with faces covered were shouting and trying to force their way in.
“They were kicking the door and hitting it with a wheelie bin and a For Sale sign from the garden.”
Linden was trying to stop the men and pleaded for them to stop, Thomson adding: “The group then demanded access to a safe they suspected Linden had upstairs.
“There was such a commotion that other people in the vicinity called the police and used their phones to film what was happening.
“Linden was able to prevent the men getting in and eventually they retreated.”
Thomson said Mclees was identified through CCTV and mobile phone footage.
He had cut himself and blood found at the house was his.
Defence agent Diarmid Bruce said youngsters are cheering up neighbourhoods with their artwork, many doing it as part of their at-home art lessons.
Here are some more pics of the kids’ fantastic work.
Mclees, of Spruce Way, Holytown, had been under the influence of alcohol and valium.
The lawyer stated:“this was not sophisticated or pre-planned.
“Someone he knows had been assaulted by an employee at the carwash owned by Linden.
“The group were aggrieved by this and stopped at Linden’s house as they were walking past.
“What happened must have been frightening. Statements suggest the householder armed himself with a knife and a hammer, which is fair enough in such circumstances.”
Bruce accepted his client’s behaviour had been“appalling”, but said his mental state has been affected after witnessing a murder two years ago.
Sheriff Douglas Brown told Mclees, who appeared from custody via videolink:“you have a dreadful record with numerous sentences of imprisonment.
“The appropriate sentence for this is 30 months, but I’ll reduce that to 22 months because of your guilty plea.”
The sentence was backdated to March 6 to take account of time already spent in custody.