Man stole e-cigs during break-in

A junkie was caught on cctv breaking into a Stirling town centre vaping store where he stole almost £1700 of e-cigarettes and accessories.

George Sneddon Russell, of Polmaise Crescent, Fallin, had broken into Prime Vapour in Port Street on Sunday night.

Fiscal depute Laura Knox told Sheriff Simon Collins QC that 53-year-old Russell got into the premises through a side panel of the front door which had been smashed.

The break-in was captured by cctv, she added.

When officers arrived at the shop they found Russell lying on the ground behind the counter with the e-cigarettes and accessories in his rucksack, said the fiscal depute.

The value of the items, all of which were recovered, was £1696.

Russell admitted a charge of breaking into the commercial premises occupied by Daniel Bayliss at Prime Vapour in Port Street and stealing a quantity of e-cigarettes and accessories.

His lawyer Stephen Macguire told the court that his client had ongoing problems in relation to years of heroin abuse.

He said Russell had carried out the offence to get cash to buy drugs, adding:“He’s been quite candid with me about that.”

Russell, he added, also had issues with his memory.

He was released on licence in November on a 16-month jail term of which he had served eight months.

Mr Maguire said his client had managed to remain at liberty for two months before committing Sunday’s break-in and theft.

Sheriff Collins ordered Russell to return to prison to serve 60 days of the jail term which was due to expire on May 3 this year.

He also sentenced him to eight months’ imprisonment on the charge of breaking into Prime Vapour and stealing the e-cigarettes and accessories. The terms were to run consecutively.

In a separate complaint, Russell is accused of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by damaging the lock at a property in Cowane Street on January 18 this year, entering uninvited, and placing the residents in a state of fear and alarm. He denied the charge. Sheriff Collins set the trial for March 5 with an intermediate diet of February 20.

Bail was refused and Russell was remanded in custody.