Injured thief found with cash till

Police were contacted by the ambulance service after a Perth serial offender was found at the rear of a city centre restaurant in the early hours, suffering from a serious leg injury.

Forty-two-year-old William Gillilan was in possession of a cash register - and police followed“a trail of blood” leading to Willows coffee shop.

Officers then discovered a smashed glass panel to the left of the doorway, where there was another “substantial amount of blood,”Perth Sheriff Court was told yesterday.

Depute fiscal Michael Sweeney said CCTV footage from Willows showed the accused outside the restaurant at 10.11pm with a “large paving stone”.

He is then seen to enter the premises - “creeping quite slowly and bent over”.

He then went behind the counter to the till area.

The fiscal said he had “avoided triggering the alarm”by the way had ducked down to avoid a sensor.

He then removed the till which contained £150.

Gillilan, of Perth’s Skinnergate, will be sentenced on April 8 after a background report has been prepared.

He was remanded in custody meantime.

He pled guilty to a three- charge indictment.

As well as breaking into Willows on December 15, 2020, he forced open a vehicle at the rear of the Kirkside Bar and stole property worth £700.

It included a jet remote control, two camera charging units and a dash camera.

All the items were discovered by the owner in a plastic shopping bag near to the rear of premises in the nearby High Street.

Gillilan also broke into a car in Perth’s George Inn Lane on December 16 with intent to steal.

When the accused was interviewed by police on December 17, he said he “couldn’t remember anything because he was on drugs at the time,”stated Mr Sweeney.

Solicitor David Holmes will give his plea in mitigation next month.