Jail warning for sneak thief with taste for whisky
A MAN who broke into a stranger’s house to drink her whisky has been warned he could be jailed if he does not pay compensation to his victim.
‘Angels’ Share’ handyman James Reid used a key hidden under a stone to enter Vikki Banks’s home then locked the door after leaving.
However, she became suspicious about whisky disappearing from a bottle of Famous Grouse
‘She installed a camera system’
on a window sill and set up a hidden surveillance camera.
Reid, 54, was earlier ordered to carry out 90 hours of unpaid work and pay £30 compensation to his victim, but Perth Sheriff Court was told yesterday he had failed to hand over the money.
After he admitted breaching the compensation order Sheriff William Wood said: ‘If it is not paid in full there will be some other penalty. Do you realise what that means? Sometimes the law is a blunt instrument and it may be using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. It is only £30 but it must be paid.’ He gave him two weeks to pay.
The court heard Reid, of Perth, took gulps of whisky and topped up the bottle with water in an effort to cover his tracks before leaving Miss Banks’s home in Blairgowrie, Perthshire.
But fiscal depute Bill Kermode said she suspected that someone had been in her house.
‘As a result she installed a camera system that sends automatic email notifications when it detects movement,’ he said.
‘She left the house at 7.47 am, checking the back door was locked. At 10.23 am she got an email alert telling her there was motion at the back door.’ He added: ‘There was a further notification at 10.57 am and she viewed the video.
‘She saw the accused walking out of the lounge into the kitchen. At 11am another notification showed him leaving and pulling the back door shut.’
Reid earlier admitted breaking into the house on February 9 last year and stealing whisky and wine. His not guilty plea to a similar allegation relating to the previous week was accepted by the Crown.
The ‘Angels’ Share’ refers to the whisky which evaporates during the distilling process.