N-ice one as lolly gave game away
Slippery customer snared by Magnum on window
A petty criminal who broke into a pensioner’s house in the middle of the night was snared by an ice cream he left half-eaten on the windowsill.
Kevin Dudgeon’s DNA was found on the partially-devoured Double Chocolate Magnum, Stirling Sheriff Court was told.
The lolly was found by an eagle-eyed bobby called by 79-year-old William Johnson, who was woken by bumps in the night and found a “male figure” running out of his back door.
Kyrsten Buist, prosecuting, said Mr Johnson had heard noises in his home in Douglas Street, Stirling, around midnight.
He initially thought it was his dog but when they became louder he went downstairs to investigate and disturbed an intruder.
He realised the man had got in by forcing his downstairs bathroom window, and called police.
Miss Buist, the depute fiscal, said: “An officer attended and looked around and realised there was a half-eaten Magnum ice lolly lying in the outside windowsill of the downstairs bathroom.”
The court heard that although it was a warm summer night, the ice-cream was unmelted, and the officer realised it could not have been there very long.
Miss Buist said: “The officer made arrangements for it to be placed in a plastic bag and put in Mr Johnson’s freezer until a DNA sample could be taken.
“A scene of crime officer attended the next day and took swabs from the ice cream.
“These were sent for DNA analysis and indicated that it was the accused who was responsible.”
Dudgeon, whose DNA was already in the police database, was then arrested. The incident occurred on July 17 last year.
Dudgeon, 24, of Stirling, who has a record of petty crime, pleaded guilty to breaking into Mr Johnson’s home with intent to steal.
It is thought the Magnum came from a supply Mr Johnson kept for his grandchildren in a freezer in his shed, but this could not be proved, and Dudgeon was not charged with nicking the luxury treat.
He did, however, further admit stealing £126 worth of whisky in a raid on an Aldi supermarket while on bail in respect of the break-in at Mr Johnson’s.
The court heard police went to investigate an alarm sounding at 2.30 am on October 8 at the store in Springbank Road, Stirling.
They found a fire door open and called a dog team.
However, while waiting for the dogs to arrive, they noticed Dudgeon inside the shop, walking down one of the aisles towards the till area.
They moved in and arrested him.
His room in nearby Stirling Council-run homeless accommodation, Springkerse House, was searched and a box containing seven bottles of Glen Moray Speyside single malt whisky, stolen from the Aldi, were found under his bed.
It was thought that Dudgeon had gone back to the shop for a second load when he was caught.
The fire door was said to have been already insecure when Dudgeon found it, so he was not charged with breaking and entering.
Virgil Crawford, defending, said Dudgeon had led “a troubled life”, blighted by alcohol problems since his early teens.
The defence agent said Dudgeon had more recently developed a problem with drugs, particularly Valium, and was suffering from “untreated grief ” following the death of his mother.
He was remanded in custody after the Aldi raid, and since being in prison his mental and physical health had improved.
Mr Crawford said: “He has had the benefit in prison of a drugs worker and a mental health worker, and has been engaging with a course in information technology.
“His physical health and therefore his mental health have greatly improved and he is of the view that his remand in jail has been the best thing for him.
“As a result of that he asks that he should be given a custodial sentence.”
Sheriff Wyllie Robertson jailed Dudgeon for 18 months.