Teen thief faces long spell in jail if he fails to change his lifestyle

Yob is on his last chance after string of offences

A teen tearaway has been given a final chance to turn his life around or face a lengthy spell behind bars.

Repeat offender Connor Kane, 18, was back in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court after breaching bail conditions and shoplifting.

The Paisley youth, from the Foxbar area of town, penned an apology to the sheriff following a previous outburst and vowed to get his act together by taking up a garage job.

Sheriff Colin Pettigrew showed the teenager leniency but warned that he would be jailed if he appeared before him again.

He added that if Kane did not make the most of his final chance, he would know what to expect from that “stupidity”.

Kane had earlier been made the subject of a Community Payback Order following his last court appearance.

Paisley Sheriff Court was told that he made no attempt to comply as he was living “a chaotic lifestyle” at the time.

He had also been made the subject of bail curfew conditions requiring him to be at home during certain hours.

When police checked on him on November 14 – just 11 days after the bail order conditions were put in place – he wasn’t home.

When Kane appeared in the dock from custody he admitted failing to comply and to stealing two crates of beer from the Spar store in the town’s Foxbar Road, in January.

His lawyer, Peter Galletly told the court that his family had recently left Paisley and moved to Saltcoats.

But Kane had decided to remain in the Paisley area and continues to associate with individuals who have a negative influence on his life.

The lawyer said that his client had come to regret making that decision, and was now wishing to move to Saltcoats too, where his grandfather has found him an employment opportunity with a local garage.

When the accused was warned that he had been facing a spell behind bars for non-compliance and continued offending, Mr Galletly said: “He accepts that he can blame no- one else for placing himself in this precarious position.

“He now has potential employment open to him and is hoping he can be given the chance to break this cycle of offending and sort out underlying drugrelated issues.”

Kane presented a letter apologising to the sheriff for an unacceptable outburst he made when he last appeared in the dock.

The sheriff said it had taken “a degree of maturity to admit to the appalling behaviour”.

Kane had sentence deferred for a Drug Treatment and Testing Order assessment to be prepared and was advised to take up the job and bring a letter from his employer when he returns to court on June 26 to confirm he had been buckling down.

“If I was to sentence you today for these matters, you would be looking at a period of detention that would run to double figures,” warned the Sheriff, “so you know what the alternative will be.”