Man, nabbed in front garden of house
A man told cops who caught him acting suspiciously in the grounds of a house in Stirling that he was looking for cigarette butts.
Alan Wyles, of Quakerfield, Bannockburn, admitted a charge of being found in the curtilage of a house in Randoph Terrace on October 17 this year without lawful authority while on bail on another matter.
Stirling Sheriff Court was told on Wednesday that police had received a call about 9.45pm on October about a male acting suspiciously at the address.
Officers attended at the address, said fiscal depute Ashley Smith, and observed the accused.
He was seen in the front garden lifting up plant pots leading up to the front steps of the property.
When asked what he was doing, Wyles replied – `I thought it was my cousin’s house’ and `I thought it was my pal’s house.’
On speaking to the home owner she stated that she didn’t know the accused and he had no reason to be in the front garden lifting plant pots.
Ms Smith said Wyles was arrested and when cautioned and charged made no reply.
When he was later questioned by police, he told them: `I was only looking for dowts.’
His agent Frazer McCready told Sheriff Christopher Shead that Wyles had a “very limited” record for crimes of dishonesty.
He had pleaded guilty on October 18 to the offence and had been in custody since then. Sentence had been deferred for reports to examine if there was an alternative to custody.
Mr McCready pointed out that 41-year-old Wyles knew he had to stay out of prison if he wished to see his children.
Sheriff Shead sentenced Wyles to a community payback order that required him to undergo 18 months’ supervision as an alternative to custody.