B&B guests stole host’s Jaguar car and crashed it

Two B&B guests climbed out a bedroom window and stole the owner’s Jaguar before crashing it, Oban Sheriff Court has heard.

George Spence and Lee McGinn were staying at a B&B in Connel when the incident occurred on September 15 this year.

The pair, both from Kilmarnock, pleaded guilty to theft of the vehicle.

Spence, 25, of 23 St Maurs Crescent, Altonhill, admitted driving the Jaguar XF without due care and consideration, colliding with a parked car and damaging both vehicles. He also admitted driving it without insurance.

Spence also pleaded guilty to being more than twice over the drink-drive limit, having 53 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, exceeding the prescribed limit of 22 microgrammes. McGinn, 27, of Flat 10L, Craufurdland Road, pleaded guilty to failing to identify who was driving the car when police asked him for information.

The pair, who abandoned the car about quarter of a mile away, had been caught on CCTV, the court heard last week.

The two men had been in Oban for a job contracted to Spence’s roofing and roughcasting business.

When Sheriff Patrick Hughes asked how the men, who were on the first night of their stay, had got the car keys, he was told the Jaguar had been left insecure and they only had to push the start button.

Both men were ordered to share compensation costs of £626.36 to the car owner.

For the theft charges, Spence and McGinn were ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work within 12 months and be under supervision of social workers for a year.

They will both be electronically tagged at their home addresses between 7pm and 4am for four months.

Spence was disqualified from driving for four months, had his licence endorsed and was fined £200 for driving without due care and was disqualified for 20 months with his licence endorsed for drink-driving and ordered to pay a £350 fine.

If he passes a drink-driver rehabilitation course, the ban will be reduced to 15 months. For driving without insurance, his licence was endorsed and he was fined £400.

McGinn was fined £350 for refusing to tell police who was driving the Jaguar that night.