Copper wire thief jailed

A Shetland man who stole £14,000 worth of copper wire from his former employer to fund his drug habit has been jailed for six months.

Shaun Hurson, of Lin-gapund, admitted stealing the metal from Petrofac’s Sella Ness yard on or between December 18, 2015, and February 17 last year.

Fiscal Duncan Mackenzie told Lerwick Sheriff Court the 25-year-old was well aware of the layout and security system of the yard.

Suspicion was aroused when police made inquiries with a scrap dealer, but Hurson initially denied involvement. There had been no attempt to arrange repayment of the money received through selling the metal.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said other people were involved in the theft who had “escaped detection”. He said Hurson

“I have to take it that this was a theft planned in advance”

was in a “desperate state” at the time and needed money to fund his addiction to heroin.

He said the incident “marked something of a turning point” and that his client is now off the drug. He said Hurson was “happy to pay the price” for his wrongdoing, but the solicitor asked Sheriff Philip Mann to consider the improvements made in his life and his lack of previous offending.

Sheriff Mann, however, ruled that custody was the only option and said the theft would have been a “substantial loss” for anyone, even a large company.

“This wasn’t an opportunistic theft. It was a theft that was carried out over a period of two months,” he said before jailing Hurson.

“It needed a degree of inside knowledge, so I have to take it that this was a theft planned in advance.”