SHERIFF COURT
Doher t y b e i ng i d e nt i f i e d a s t h e thief.
Doher t y a dmitt e d a c har g e o f breaking into the house in August and stealing a rucksack, jeweller y a n d mo n e y w h e n h e a p p e a r e d a t Ha mi l t o n S h e r i f f C o u r t l a s t week.
He had a not guilty plea accepted by prosecutors on another charge of removing a door, emptying wardrobes a n d d r aw e r s a n d s c a t t e r i n g t h e contents of an urn on a bed.
Mr Lyons, a tattoo artist, said he felt “violated” by what happened.
He s ai d: “I l ost my money and j e wel l e r y t hat d ay a n d I k n ow I won’t get the money back because t he i nsurance won’t cover me f or t hat k i nd of money bei ng i n t he house.
“I probably won’t see anything that was stolen ever again.
“Somebody knew I was away on holiday and t hat’s why t hey did i t when they did, they knew my dogs weren’t in the house either.
“I didn’t even know my neighbour had that camera but I’m glad because the footage helped catch the guy who did it.
“It was a horrible thing to happen.”
Depute fiscal Callum Forsyth told t he c our t : “A nei g hbour not i c e d two males had attended the close wearing high-visibility jackets and were carr ying tool kits, one of the males was the accused.
“The neighbour assumed he was some kind of joiner there to do some sort of work on the door.
“The mal e t h e n p r o c e e d e d t o remove the door and the accused then entered.
“A safe which was under a bed was stolen. The safe contained £18,000 a n d t h e c o mpl a i n e r t o l d p o l i c e he had been saving up to go to the USA.
“A l s o s t o l e n wa s h i s we d d i n g r i ng a nd h i s d e c e a s e d mother ’s engagement ring worth £12,000.
“None of the property has been recovered.
“The nei g hbour prov i ded hi m with footage and he then posted it on Facebook and, as a result of that being posted, a member of the community approached him with a name which led to the accused being identified as the house breaker.”
S h e r i f f J o h n Mi l l e r d e f e r r e d sentence for reports and remanded Doherty in custody.