Court / Man who ‘ransacked’ Unst shop and left trail of destruction warned he faces jail

A MAN who left a trail of destruction in a remote Shetland shop and stole almost £2,000 of goods has been warned a prison sentence is very possible.

Sheriff Philip Mann told Jamie Brown, 35, that he could “send you to jail today if I wanted to, and I don’t think I would be criticised for it”.

That was because Brown admitted stealing nearly £2,000 worth of items from Skibhoul Stores in Unst after a late night raid on 30 October last year.

Brown, from Hebburn in South Tyneside, was in the island visiting his father when he carried out the brazen theft, which involved smashing a window at the shop to break in.

He stole 82 packs of cigarettes, 26 boxes of matches, 100 packs of cigarette papers, 19 bottles of spirits, a money box, charity box and £155 in cash during the raid.

Some of the items were recovered but not able to be re-sold, procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie told the court.

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Staff at the shop in Baltasound got to work at its bakery at 3am when they felt a breeze coming through the store, which came through the broken window.

The building was “in a state of disarray”, Mackenzie said, with the shop “effectively ransacked”.

The estimated cost of the lost items was £1,826.76, with the window costing a further £341 to repair.

Mackenzie said there was “public disquiet” in Unst about the incident, which was unusual for a community like Shetland and even more so for a small island like Unst.

Suspicion quickly fell on Brown, who refused to speak to shop staff when approached at a bus stop.

When Brown’s father returned to the island, and to his home, he found Brown brandishing kitchen knives and threatening to hurt himself.

The “scared” man was able to talk Brown into going upstairs, at which point he was able to leave and call for help.

Brown also admitted to causing his father fear or alarm by behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, and uttering threats.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said there was an extensive mental health background to the case.

Sheriff Mann said that, if it was not for that, he would have likely ordered Brown to prison.

Instead he deferred sentencing for a criminal justice social work report to be carried out.

However, he warned Brown that a jail term was “uppermost in my mind” still, warning him it would depend on what the social work report found.

Brown was released on bail, but ordered not to enter Unst as part of his conditions.