Undertakers targeted before Armistice Day

A thief hooked on drugs swiped a poppy tin from a Paisley funeral home just days before the centenary of the First World War armistice.

Kevin Wallace, 30, blagged his way into the Co- operative Funeralcare looking for work.

He asked to look at headstones and pinched the canister behind the backs of staff.

Wallace had been released early from a jail stretch just four days previously.

The crook admitted theft during a hearing at Paisley Sheriff Court.

Prosecutor Pamela Flynn revealed he was caught after a worker heard change jangling as he tried to escape. She said: “Around midday, ay, the accused entered the Cooperative funeral parlour.

“He spoke to staff about headstones and also about employment with the company.

“He w a s given brochures and material.

“At around 12.30pm, one of the employees observed rved

The court heard Wallace had been released early from a jail stretch just four days earlier

the accused drawing on a visitors’ book.

“They asked the him to leave, saying he had wasted enough of their time already.

“As he was leaving, a plastic bag he was carrying struck the front door and made the noise of coins rattling.

“At that stage the member of staff observed that the Poppy Scotland charity tin that had been at the front desk was now in the accused’s bag.”

Wallace was high on heroin when he stumbled into the funeral parlour on Lady Lane.

He had been at a meeting with drug workers just hours earlier.

The yob legged it after he was challenged by staff on October 29.

Police collared him nearby and found the tin in his bag. It contained just £20. The court heard he had been released earlier from a prison stint for theft when he targeted the charity cash.

A charge he also swiped a poppy tin from a town centre printing shop was dropped.

Defence lawyer Charlie McCusker admitted his client had “an entrenched drug problem” which started when he was just 13.

He said: “On October 25, he got out of prison.

“On the Monday, October 29, he had a meeting at Renfrewshire Drug Services at 11am, which he attended.

“He had taken Valium and heroin.

“I do not dispute the timings or the narration.”

Wallace had been placed on a court- ordered rehab programme a decade ago.

He was jailed for 24 months last October after he ransacked a man’s home just yards from where he stole the tin.

The repeat offender swiped a camera, clothes, bags, a microphone and even drawing pins from the house.

Sheriff Seith Ireland warned he could be made to serve the unexpired jail sentence and spend more time behind bars.

He said: “It’s a worrying case. I leave all matters open and we’ll see if a report can be of assistance to me in making an appropriate judgement.”

Wallace, of Darkwood Crescent, will return to the dock next month.