Buddha thief who was hit by bad karma
A thief who knocked the head off a Buddha statue as he stole it from a garden in a drunken Christmas prank has been plagued with ill-luck.
Stephen Mornin, 36, took the concrete ornament from outside Jagdeep and Rekha Luthra’s home on Christmas eve.
But he could not carry the heavy figure and dropped it, breaking off the statue’s head.
he also caused damage to garden steps and knocked down part of a wall.
Mornin’s wife left him over the theft because he spent their first Christmas as a married couple behind bars.
And at Paisley Sheriff Court yesterday he was ordered to pay £1,000 in compensation.
Mornin admitted stealing t he statue, as well as shouting, swearing, making racist comments and threatening violence.
he told a police officer escorting him to the station that he would ‘plug him in the heart’.
the statue was bought by Mr Luthra and his wife 15 years ago, in india, for £800.
Mornin’s actions resulted in a £780 bill to fix the statue and repair the damage he caused in their garden in Paisley, Renfrewshire.
Mr Luthra, 63, told how he heard a loud thud coming from outside and, as he opened his door, could see the statue’s head rolling down the driveway.
he added: ‘i could barely believe my eyes. the statue is so heavy that it takes four people to lift it, so the guy must have got a quite a shock when he tried to steal it. it appears that he has tripped or simply had to drop the statue and it has ended up crashing down the steps at our front door.
‘the statue’s head broke off and it has damaged the steps, too.’
Mr Luthra, a retired consultant psychiatrist, was at home with his wife and their children Seema, 27, and 23- year- old Anjan when Mornin targeted their home.
he added: ‘Perhaps it was supposed to be a Christmas prank but, to be honest, it’s a bit sad when we have to think about bringing our garden ornaments into the house to stop them being vandalised.’
Mrs Luthra added: ‘ Who on earth tries to steal a concrete garden statue? the guy was so drunk he probably doesn’t even remember coming into our garden.’
Mornin, of Paisley, was also ordered to carry out 80 hours of community work and attend alcohol counselling.