Fife thief jailed for 14 months after raiding house in Methil

A Methil man has been jailed for 14 months after he brandished a knife at two people who confronted him about stealing from a house.

Ross Henderson appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, where he admitted taking an iPad, a laptop, a Kindle and a tablet from a property in Kirkland Gardens, Methil, on June 3.

The 41-year-old was caught after he tried to sell the stolen items for just £10 to a passer-by who had seen a Facebook post about the theft.

Two witnesses went to Henderson’s home on Den Walk and confronted him about the raid before entering his property.

He shouted, swore and waved a knife at them.

Police arrived and found Henderson being restrained by the pair before they took him into custody.

Defence solicitor Carolyn Leckie said her client was a man who had a “complex, chaotic life that is underpinned by drugs misuse”.

She added that he had taken Xanax at the time of the offence and that he was keen to see the matter resolved.

Henderson’s actions were condemned by Sheriff Jamie Gilchrist QC at the hearing .

“The amount of disruption caused to somebody’s life by taking a laptop is substantial and he was only going to get £10 for it, which is an outrage,” he said.

“It shows a wilful disregard of the huge or potentially huge impact on the victims’ lives for a trivial amount of money.

“He would be a depraved individual to cause that degree of disruption for that amount of money.”

Sheriff Gilchrist jailed Henderson for 14 months.