The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Alcohol raid ran up £3,000 bill for Aldi
Asmash-and-grab raid on a Perth Aldi store cost the retailer more than £3,000 in lost revenue. Serial thief Marcus Keep forced his way inside the Glasgow Road branch and made off with bottles of booze.
It was the third Fair City outlet that the 20-year-old had targeted in a series of night-time raids.
Keep was warned he faces being locked up if he offends again.
Perth Sheriff Court heard that police were called to the Aldi just after 5am on December 11 2019.
Fiscal depute Sean Maher said: “Officers were alerted by an alarm monitoring company, which told them the alarm at the store had been triggered.
“They saw that entry had been forced via a sliding glass door.”
Mr Maher said there were several smashed bottles at the scene.
“The loss of revenue came to just over £3,164,” he said.
“There was a CCTV recording which enabled officers to identify Mr Keep as the person responsible.”
The court heard that Perth man Keep had raided two other businesses in the city.
Just weeks before he targeted Aldi, Keep broke into Shepherd chartered surveyors, in nearby Whitefriars Crescent. He made off with two fire extinguishers and a desktop calculator.
Keep was identified by DNA left at the scene, and one of the fire extinguishers was found at his home.
The court heard that on July 13, Keep broke into the Day Today convenience store in Dunkeld Road.
He fled with alcohol, tobacco and cigarettes worth nearly £200. Again, CCTV was used to identify Keep.
“Police officers traced the accused and noticed he had a cut to his hand.
“This was consistent with bloodstaining found at the shop,” he said.
Solicitor Pauline Cullerton said: “These offences were all committed while he was under the influence of alcohol.
“He had also taken street valium before one of the break-ins.
“As a result, he has no recollection of the events.”
She said her client was making good progress on the Right Track programme for young offenders.
“He no longer takes any substances or drinks alcohol,” she said.
Sentence was deferred until September 29, with Sheriff Neil Bowie telling Keep: “You should be aware that custody is a real prospect. If you commit any further offending, it will be inevitable.”