A serial thief was caught helping himself to copper tanks from a Dundee demolition site.
Charles Forbes was caught systematically looting a city street slated for demolition in November last year.
His concerted enterprise was brought to a halt when he was caught red-handed inside the secured perimeter of Ellengowan Drive.
The site has since been demolished as part of a £20.5m renovation, but Forbes had helped himself to 10 copper tanks from the asbestos-riddled derelict homes.
They were worth £200 each.
Grandfather Forbes, 37, hit headlines in 2017 when he stole more than £7,000 worth of underwear from Dundee adult store Desire.
Organised raid
Fiscal depute Christine Allan told Dundee Sheriff Court Ellengowan Drive was secured with a seven-foot perimeter fence.
A security inspector checked the fence on November 3 last year with nothing amiss but when he returned a week later, the chain on one of the gates was missing.
He alerted site owners Hillcrest Housing.
Inside the site was a Renault van and Forbes and his acquaintance could be heard banging in a property.
Police caught him leaving number 38, covered in dust.
He told officers he was carrying out work there.
Officers arrested him and found bolt-cutters, hammers, a sledgehammer and a lug hammer among his tools.
‘Used to prison’
Forbes, of Balmerino Road in Dundee, admitted stealing copper tanks from 10 properties in Ellengowan Drive between November 3 and November 10 last year, while acting with another person.
He also admitted being present in four more of the abandoned properties with the intention of stealing.
Forbes has 11 previous convictions for dishonesty, including trying to break into a 74-year-old woman’s home.
Earlier in proceedings, he spent 112 days on remand.
His solicitor Anika Jethwa said there was no opposition to a Crown motion for forfeiture of Forbes’ toolkit.
She said: “At that time, Mr Forbes had a very serious drug addiction issue and he was committing crimes of dishonesty to fund that drug habit.
“He is in a stable relationship, he is off drugs.
“Very stupidly, he became involved in these offences with a view to gaining money.
“Obviously it was a pretty sophisticated enterprise that the police came upon.
“Mr Forbes, in the past, was used to prison.
“He seems to have changed his life around – he has been trying to better himself.
“He has a lot to lose by going to prison.”
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael deferred sentencing until July 5 for reports and continued Forbes’ bail.
Development work
128 Ellengowan cottage flats were originally constructed in the 1920s as a temporary solution to housing shortages between WWI and WWII.
The lifespan of the properties was only meant to be 25 years but almost 100 years later, they were still in use.
The whole redevelopment project is anticipated to be completed in 2025.
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