News / Addict jailed for Xmas Day break in
A SHETLAND drug addict who broke into a woman’s chalet on Christmas Day and stole clothes, a camera and computer gear was jailed for 18 months at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday.
The court heard that 21 year old Scott Anderson, of Kirkabister, Bressay, had been released early from a 20 month jail sentence for theft just nine days earlier.
On Wednesday Anderson pled guilty to breaking into the chalet at Lerwick’s Hoofields and stealing an Xbox console, a rucksack containing DVDs, a camera, a pair of trousers and a pair of boots with a total value of around £500. None of the items were recovered.
He also admitted smashing a window at the Staney Hill shop in the town in an attempt to steal, causing £200 worth of damage.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said: “He’s a drug addict and a thief and his dishonesty is to feed his habit. He’s a menace when he’s at liberty.”
Defence agent Tommy Allan agreed that Anderson struggled with drug addiction, having suffered a relapse after being told he could not see his young child for six months after his release from jail.
The crimes were committed to put him back behind bars, Mr Allan said, after his prescription had been reduced because of the amount he was drinking upon his release.
Regarding the attempted shop break in, Mr Allan added: “Mr Anderson wasn’t in a position to fully account for his actions or give any indication of his thought processes because clearly they were scrambled at the time.”
Sheriff Philip Mann told Anderson that he would have to return to jail to serve the remaining 10 months of his original jail sentence, which he received last April after pleading guilty to breaking into a shop and an office and stealing a car.
At the time he said he had been abducted and threatened by drug dealers from Liverpool who he owed £350, and who had assaulted him with a hammer.
Sheriff Mann added a further eight month jail term for the new offences, reducing the sentence from 16 months on the request of the defence.
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