Criminally stupid – man breaks heels in fall after break-in

COURT: Thief had to call 999 after raid at sheltered housing accommodation

A thief called 999 to report himself after plunging 20 feet as he fled a sheltered housing block he had broken into in the dead of night.

Desmond Marr shattered both his heels after falling from a wall as he tried to escape from Dudhope Villa in Dundee.

Marr had used a pair of ladders left by maintenance workers to climb in via the roof, then set them up on a five-foot wall at the rear of the property to get away.

But the thief – who stole £1,942 of residents’ cash during his raid – did not realise there was a 20-foot drop on the other side and fell, leaving himself severely injured.

He called an ambulance to come to his aid and prompted suspicions from accident and emergency staff who found the huge sum of cash, two credit cards and a business cheque book in his possession.

Marr was left in a wheelchair for nine months following the plunge and could have lost his leg.

Just weeks after returning to his feet, he was stealing again, caught in broad daylight hurling a manhole cover through a patio door to get into a flat in Dundee. Now, he is starting a 20-month jail term.

Of the second theft, Depute fiscal Saima Rasheed told Dundee Sheriff Court: “Around 10.50am on June 6 this year, a witness opposite the flat in Fyffe Street heard glass shattering.

“She looked over and saw the accused within the property.

“The accused was then seen running away carrying a blue suitcase.

“He was traced nearby by police, bleeding from a cut to his hand and ear with his jacket covered in glass.

“Inside the suitcase was a laptop, games console, travel documents and a passport belonging the complainer.

“In his jeans pocket were £2,000 and 300 euros in cash and a currency receipt in the name of the complainer.

“Substantial damage was caused to the locus to gain access, with a steel manhole cover being thrown through the glass door.”

Marr, 46, a prisoner at HMP Perth, pled guilty to charges of theft by housebreaking committed on August 19 last year and June 6 this year.

Solicitor advocate Jim Laverty, defending, said: “He actually suffered two shattered heels in the fall and was housebound in a wheelchair for eight to nine months.”

Sheriff Alastair Carmichael jailed Marr for 20 months. He said: “There’s no alternative to a custodial sentence.”

He actually suffered two shattered heels in the fall and was housebound ina wheelchair for eight to nine months.” SOLICITOR ADVOCATE JIM LAVERTY