Campbeltown van thief pleaded guilty

Sentence was deferred on a man who stole a council van and later crashed it in Tomaig Road. Appearing without a lawyer at Campbeltown Sheriff Court last Thursday, Kevin Shields, 29, of 42 New Parliament Place, Campbeltown, pleaded guilty to three charges of stealing the van on April 5 last year, driving the 14 plate vehicle without a licence and without insurance. Not guilty pleas to two further charges of driving without due care and attention and failing to report an accident were accepted by the crown. Procurator fiscal depute Eoin McGinty told the court that the van’s keys had been left under the visor, when it was parked, in the Argyll and Bute council depot at the Roading.

Forensic

After the crashed van was found, police forensic experts recovered DNA from blood on the dashboard which was a match for Shields. In addition, CCTV from a premises next to the council yard showed a person approaching a number of vehicles before driving away in the Transit van. Shields told Sheriff Patrick Hughes that there was another person involved who was an employee of BT but he had proved impossible to trace. Shields added that he is in full-time employment and asked if social work reports could be prepared before he is sentenced. Sheriff Hughes disqualified Shields and said that with his previous bad record, either a restriction of liberty order or custody would be at the forefront of his mind at the sentencing diet, on February 7.