Bungling thief is ‘lucky to be alive’

A HAPLESS thief is lucky to be alive after injuring himself climbing through a window he had smashed, a court heard.

William Gillilan, 42, suffered a major gash to his leg and was found lying in a pool of blood – clutching a till containing £150.

Yesterday, he was jailed for 19 months by Sheriff William Wood, who told him: ‘It is fortunate that you did not injure your leg more seriously and bleed to death.’

Perth Sheriff Court heard Gillilan had taken 20 Valium tablets before carrying out the robbery at the Willows coffee shop in the city on December 16.

He gained entry by smashing a window with a paving stone, then cut his leg on his way back out.

Passers-by found him bleeding and called the emergency services. Police followed a trail of blood back to Willows, and CCTV had captured him breaking in.

He admitted the offence and to using a screwdriver to break a car window with intent to commit robbery on the same day. He also confessed to breaking into a van to steal £700 worth of equipment the day before.

Sheriff Wood told him: ‘Here you are, 42, so not a young man any more, and you have a fairly lengthy string of previous convictions.

‘You can’t remember exactly what happened but you have to accept the consequences.’

Gillilan was on licence at the time, having been freed early from a previous jail term, so Sheriff Wood ordered him to serve out that 183-day period. He also added a further 13 months in jail.

Fiscal depute Michael Sweeney told the court: ‘He said he could not remember anything because he was on drugs at the time.’

David Holmes, defending, said: ‘He sees this as part of the pattern of him taking drugs for a number of years. He was only aware of what had taken place because he was informed by others.’