A bungling housebreaker who stole his neighbour’s television was caught after leaving a soot and blood-filled footprint at the fire-hit crime scene.
Kevin Waterston, 43, went into Kaylin Worsley’s house after she left the property for days following a fire.
When she returned, she noticed a window had been broken and “sooty” footprints had been left in her house.
Waterston said he had assumed more than £600 of items he stole had been “abandoned” but admitted theft by housebreaking when he appeared from custody at Dundee Sheriff Court.
Thefts
Depute fiscal Lora Apostolova told the court: “The accused lives on Aboyne Avenue and was unemployed at the time.
“At around 3am on August 15 a fire broke out in the communal close on Aboyne Avenue.
“It left fire damage and soot in the common close.
“Witness Worsley was not at her home address at the time.
“Her house was left intact. She left the property secure.
“She returned later and found a crack in the window by the door.
“On August 19, Ms Worsley called her friend to say her window had been smashed.
“There was soot-stained footprints on the top of a tumble drier located in the hallway on the other side of the window.
“A 39-inch Seiko television worth £300, an Amazon Firestick worth £40, a Bosch drill worth £150 and four packets of laminate floor tiles worth £30 were taken.”
Jailed
Ms Apostolova continued: “A scene examination discovered a small speck of blood within the soot staining on the wall above the tumble drier.
“DNA analysis of the blood matched that on file of the accused.
“Police entered his bedroom, the laminate flooring was in full view, the TV and a speaker were behind a wardrobe under a duvet.”
Defence solicitor Jim Caird, in mitigation for Waterston, said: “He accepts his guilt.
“He lived at the flat across the landing.
“He claims he was told by a neighbour the flat had been abandoned.
“The window was broken, he saw he could get through, there was smoke damage.
“He has since lost the property.”
Mr Caird explained he had offered his victim his own TV after it became clear what he had done.
Sheriff Gregor Murray jailed Waterston for 18 months, backdated to September last year.
