Thief left DNA at crime scene

‘Career criminal’jailed for gun haul

A hapless criminal made it easy for police after he broke into a Strathearn cottage and made off with two shotguns, valued at £2700, from a stash of firearms kept in a locked gun cabinet.

For 52-year-old Andrew Young, of St Catherine’s Road, Perth, had left his fingerprints and DNA at the crime scene.

He was also left stranded after the unnamed person who had organised the theft failed to return and pick him up.

That resulted in Young trudging the 13 miles back to Perth after he abandoned the stolen property near a sawmill.

And to add insult to injury, he wasn’t paid the £300 he had been promised for what he was told was “an insurance job.”

What he did get, however, was almost three years behind bars when he appeared on indictment at Perth Sheriff Court on Tuesday.

He admitted breaking into the house near Crieff on October 4, 2016, and using a key to gain access to the locked gun cabinet before stealing the two firearms.

He also stole a streaming stick and two bluetooth speakers from Tesco in Edinburgh Road, Perth, on October 17.

Police described Young as a “career criminal” who has 52 previous convictions stretching back to 1980.

Depute fiscal John Malpass said that one of the people who lived at the “isolated country location” was a registered firearms and shotgun holder and had over 30 years’ experience in shooting.

He kept three rifles, seven shotguns, two silencers and an air pistol in a locked gun cabinet in a bedroom wardrobe at the property.

He kept the keys “hidden on the premises.”

The house was left secure but unoccupied between 9.25 and 11am on the morning of October 4.

It was later discovered that someone had broken in via the back door and removed two of the shotguns.

A search of the surrounding area led to the weapons being discovered in a black holdall, inside a blackcoloured golf bag.

An examination was carried out and fingerprints were obtained from the back door and DNA from the canvas bag.

They led police to the accused who was traced at his home on November 1.

The items stolen from Tesco were worth £84 and all were recovered.

Solicitor Cliff Culley said his client had been asked by someone to steal the two shotguns.

“He thought it was an insurance job and the items would be sold to a gamekeeper.”

“He was offered £300. This person took him to the locus, about 13 miles from Perth, and he was dropped off.”

After gaining access to the house, he found the shotguns in the bedroom and took them.

He waited 45 minutes for the same person to pick him up but when he failed to appear he left the weapons 10-15 yards from the house and then walked home.

Young is on a methadone prescription but his lawyer explained: “He was using illicit drugs at the time and needed money to pay for them.

“He very much regrets his actions. The circumstances of the crime were somewhat foolish and unsophisticated.”

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis jailed Young for 30 months for the shotguns theft and added another four months for the shoplifting.

The sentences were backdated to November 17.