A serial thief sparked a security alert as he ransacked a Perthshire school and made off with a computer and handwritten list of passwords.
Michael McNeilage sliced himself up when he smashed his way into St Dominic’s Primary in Crieff through a rear window.
He left a bloody trail as he rifled through drawers, tipped over plants and tossed laptops onto the floor.
The 38-year-old appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted breaking into the Broich Road school and stealing a laptop and notepad containing passwords on March 19 2021.
He was also sentenced for an earlier offence in which he forced his way into a bakery and helped himself to handfuls of cakes.
The court heard he was found by police who followed a “Hansel and Gretel-like” trail of crumbs.
Sheriff Euan Duthie told him: “We have here a vicious and rather tragic cycle of acquisitive thefts.
“You get caught and then you end in prison.”
The sheriff said: “It is in the public interest for me to allow you to continue on the positive track you have started since you went into custody.”
McNeilage was placed on supervision for 18 months and ordered to comply with a six-month restriction of liberty order, meaning he must stay at home between 8pm and 7am.
Sentence was deferred on the laptop theft until October 17.
Drunken fall sparked suspicions
Fiscal depute Michael Sweeney said the school was locked up at about 6.30pm that evening.
At about 8.45pm, McNeilage was spotted nearby, carrying an umbrella.
“He appeared to be under the influence,” Mr Sweeney told the court.
“As he was watched by a witness, he fell and hurt his head.
“He appeared to be carrying something inside his jacket as he did not bring out his hands to break his fall.”
At about 11pm, a school staff member received a call to say that the building’s alarm had been activated.
“There was a further call from the alarm company, confirming that there was indeed an intruder at the school,” Mr Sweeney said.
The employee raced to the school and noticed a light on in the headteacher’s office.
He reported the break-in to police and sat in his car to wait for officers to arrive.
DNA match from blood specks
Mr Sweeney said police turned up just before midnight.
“A search of the building was conducted.
“They found that a rear window next to the teacher’s office had been smashed.
“A large plank of wood was beside the window and there were specks of blood on the window sill.
“The room beside the smashed window, described as a photocopying room, appeared to have been searched.
“Drawers had been pulled out and there were laptops on the floor.
“There was more blood on the handles of drawers and paperwork in this room.”
The prosecutor said: “The headteacher’s office had plants knocked over, along with plugs ripped out of the walls.”
Police later carried out another search of the building and found “red staining” throughout the school.
Blood was also found on a damaged alarm keypad.
“Swabs were taken and returned a positive DNA match for the accused,” said Mr Sweeney.
Staff noticed a £500 laptop was missing from the print room and a paper notepad containing passwords had been taken from the office.
McNeilage was arrested later that day but denied all knowledge of the break-in.
Reminder to council staff
Solicitor Paul Ralph described his client’s offences as “acquisitive thefts to feed his drug habit”.
The court heard McNeilage had already served the equivalent of a year in custody.
A local authority spokesman said: “Perth and Kinross Council takes information security extremely seriously and all employees are required to adhere to our Information Security Policy.
“The notebook contained personal passwords which were changed following the incident.
“Staff at the school were reminded of the importance of information security.”
History of housebreaking
The court earlier heard McNeilage broke into Campbell’s Bakery in Crieff on September 19 last year.
He managed to squeeze himself in through an unlocked window and was caught on CCTV stealing five cakes and two bottles of coke.
A few days later, he broke into neighbouring Strathearn Pharmacy and stole controlled drugs.
In a previous case in 2019, McNeilage was jailed for 20 months for failing to make a clean getaway when he tried to rob a soap shop.
He was caught red-handed trying to force entry to Planet Soap while he was high on drugs.
He was also jailed for six months in 2010 after returning to the scene of his crime at Muthill Lodge to tidy up the broken glass he had left behind during a break-in.
