Inmate’s £4k damage to cell

An inmate caused almost £4000 worth of damage when he trashed - and then flooded - his cell at Perth Prison.

Perth Sheriff Court was told 61-year-old Louis Curtis left a trail of destruction while he was a prisoner at the Edinburgh Road jail on February 2, 2020.

Curtis pulled wiring from electrical fittings, ripped shelves from walls, damaged a cell door and sabotaged piping, causing his cell to flood.

Depute fiscal Malcolm Sweeney said the bill for the damage totalled £3931. No further details were given.

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told the accused, who is now living in a hostel for the homeless:“Having regard to your record - and the nature of the charge - custody is the obvious disposal.”

But because he had pled guilty at the first opportunity, the maximum jail sentence of six months would have to be discounted by two months, cutting it to four.

He had been“out”since May 27 and had not been in any further trouble.

The sheriff added:“It would seem perverse to send you back to custody because, in real terms, you would serve just two months.

“If you want to stay out of trouble, given your age and record, you will.”

Curtis admitted a charge of wilfully or recklessly destroying or damaging the property.

He told the court he was staying at the James Bank Hostel in Dunfermline and had just applied for benefits.

Sentence was deferred until January 6, 2021, and he was ordered to stay out of further trouble.

The accused thanked the sheriff and wished him a good day as he left the dock.