Sneak thief targeted homes

A series of personal tragedies led to a Perthshire woman to revert to her former drug-taking habit.

And in a bid to fund her craving, she stole hundreds of pounds worth of jewellery, cash and other items in a catalogue of sneak-in thefts at local residential properties.

When she was finally apprehended, police found a quantity of heroin on 36-year-old Debra Sivewright, of Haugh Road in Rattray.

She appeared from custody at Perth Sheriff Court on Monday this week to admit four charges of theft and one of being in possession of the Class A drug.

She stole a purse and its contents from a property in Jessie Street on February 16.

She then helped herself to jewellery and bank cards, as well as a key, from houses at 41 and 37 Queen’s Avenue the following day.

She also targeted a house in Park Drive, Blairgowrie, between February 13 and 17, making off with a quantity of jewellery. A fifth charge of having heroin in a police vehicle on the A94 road, in Coupar Angus, on February 17 was also admitted.

Depute fiscal Robbie Brown said the purse contained £210, of which £170 was recovered.

The jewellery stolen from the house in Queen’s Avenue was worth £100, none of which was recovered, while the key was valued at £60 and again it wasn’t traced.

He had no figure for the jewellery taken from Park Drive.

Solicitor George Donnelly told the court that his client’s mother and partner had died, twin children were “lost” and a close acquaintance had also passed away.

These tragic events were “directly linked” to her relapse into drug-taking Sivewright had previously been put on a Community Payback Order which had run its course after a number of reviews.

“During that time she made remarkable progress in dealing with her drug addiction which was extremely pernicious.”

She was now hoping to go on a methadone prescription.

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis deferred sentence until March 22 and called for a Community Justice Social Work report.