Sheriff issues warrant for arrest of Arbroath harbour yacht thief

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of an Angus yacht thief after he failed to turn up at court to explain why he has not carried out unpaid work imposed for the offence.

Shamanic sailor Richard Gould had been due to appear at Forfar Sheriff Court yesterday for a hearing into an alleged breach of a community payback order he received last August after the unusual theft.

Afghanistan veteran Gould was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty midway through a trial to stealing the 27-foot Osprey from Arbroath harbour in September 2018.

Gould and his partner managed to get aboard the yacht during alternative lifestyle travels which brought them to Angus after two years of living under the skies.

The pair were said to be following a shamanic existence, an ancient spiritual practice of transcendental energy.

They carried out odd jobs on the stolen boat because they wanted to “show it some love”, before sailing out of the harbour and heading to Montrose.

The theft was discovered when Osprey’s Fife owner logged on to a harbourside webcam and noticed his craft was missing from its marina pontoon, triggering a multiagency recovery operation.

Police and coastguard were involved in a pursuit along the Angus coast. It ended with specialist diving unit officers boarding the vessel near Lunan Bay.

Gould, 42, of Newton Avenue, Arbroath, was the subject of an earlier arrest warrant after failing to appear to answer the CPO breach allegation.

He represented himself in court at the last calling.