Accused denies stealing £70,000 of lead from roofs of estate buildings

A37-year-old man has been accused of stripping more than £70,000 worth of lead from a historic castle estate with royal links.

Rolands Zeiliss is alleged to have gone to the one time home of a British prime minister to strip it of valuable lead roofing on several occasions.

Zeiliss is alleged to have been part of a gang who targeted Belmont Castle Estate in Perthshire three times in less than three months.

He is accused of tampering with security systems on each occasion before getting away with more than £12,000 worth of lead each time.

Perth Sheriff Court was told that the total weight of the lead he is accused of stealing from the former Church of Scotland-run estate is two and a half tonnes.

Solicitor Mike Short, defending, told the court that he wanted the Crown to produce more evidence to back the valuation of the stolen material.

He said: “This would weigh two and a half tonnes and I think there may be an honest mistake over valuation.

“It is a very important matter. There are different grades of lead. We need to know what grade it was and the thickness and so on.

“We have concerns about the valuation of the items stolen. Someone has got to look at that. We would call for the Crown to produce the original invoices.”

Fiscal depute Matthew Kerr said: “I can undertake to ask the police to make inquiries, but with no guarantee they’ll establish the position, or whether that is even possible.”

Zeiliss, of Aberdeen, denied that on October 31 2019 he stole a quantity of lead worth £12,600 from

Gardeners Cottage on the estate while he was acting with another.

He denied that, on the same date, he destroyed outside security lighting and a CCTV camera in an attempt to defeat the ends of justice.

He denies returning to the estate, near Meigle in Perthshire, on November 25 2019 and moving CCTV cameras to thwart justice.

It is alleged that on that date he and another person stole lead worth £37,000 from the admin building at The Stables on the estate.

Zeillis further denies that he and an accomplice returned to the estate again on January 7 2020 and removed CCTV cameras to defeat the ends of justice.

On that third visit, Zeiliss denies taking lead worth £21,000 and Sheriff Gregor Murray continued his bail and fixed a trial for next year.

Belmont Castle served as a retirement and care home run by the Church of Scotland for many years and is active as an outdoor education centre.

The tower was once a residence of the Bishops of Dunkeld, and later became home to Sir Henry Campbell-bannerman, the Liberal prime minister of Britain from 1905-08.