Homeless man found ‘curled into a ball’ in Tesco store is jailed

COURT: Wanderer entered Dunblane shop through window and forced open cigarette kiosk

A wanderer with “an emotional attachment” to Dunblane was jailed for six months yesterday after being found “in a ball” on the floor of the town’s Tesco supermarket at 4.20am surrounded by stolen cigarettes with his pockets stuffed with coins from the store’s charity tins.

Homeless John Halliday, 55, had arrived in Falkirk by train on May 6 before walking the 18 miles from there to the Perthshire town.

Stirling Sheriff Court was told he arrived there at 4am and entered the supermarket.

Sheriff Wyllie Robertson asked: “Is it 24 hours?”

Prosecutor Laura Knox replied: “No, he entered through an insecure rear window.”

Mrs Knox said police were alerted by the store’s automatic alarms.

She said: “They found the accused in the rear of the store, curled into a ball and smoking a cigarette.

“He didn’t put up any kind of resistance.

“Several unopened packets of cigarettes were lying on the floor around him, together with one packet that had been opened, with one cigarette removed. “He also had a disposable lighter.” Officers also found empty chocolate bar wrappers, and about £10 in change from the store’s charity buckets in Halliday’s trouser pockets.

The store’s locked cigarette kiosk had been forced open.

Halliday, whose address was given as the Hamish Allan homeless centre in Glasgow, pleaded guilty to theft.

Defence agent Stephen Maguire said Halliday had arrived by train in Falkirk from Glasgow in the company of “a group of travelling people” who had then gone their own way.

Mr Maguire said Halliday had then decided to walk to Dunblane, a town where he had “no family”, but to which he had an “emotional attachment”. Mr Maguire said: “It took him hours.” Sheriff Wyllie Robertson imposed the jail term.

Halliday said: “Thank you”, before being led to the cells.

Several unopened packets of cigarettes were lying on the floor around him, together with one packet that had been opened, with one cigarette removed. LAURA KNOX, PROSECUTOR