A thief who battered his neighbour’s door with a hammer because he feared he was being spied on – before breaking in and making off with a haul of the man’s property – avoided jail on Wednesday.
Drugged-up Taimoor Khan, 22, was found with a laptop, mobile phones and a PlayStation 4 in his flat on Dundee’s Fleuchar Street that he had stolen from Janis Graudumnieks, his downstairs neighbour.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard that Khan was paranoid that his neighbours were spying on him and claimed he had suffered racial abuse.
The pair were friendly with each other and had no previous hostility.
Mr Graudumnieks could hear Khan shouting in his flat above before running downstairs and banging on the door with an implement, later revealed to be a hammer.
Fiscal depute Nicola Gillespie told the court this made Mr Graudumnieks “very frightened” before Khan eventually left.
She said: “He was so frightened for his safety he left the property and contacted the police.
“He waited outside for them to arrive. Officers spoke to him. They approached the front door which was lying open.
“Mr Graudumnieks noticed a laptop, four mobile phones and a PlayStation were missing. Officers went to the accused’s address. He let them in and appeared under the influence of drugs.
“He voluntarily said to the officers: ‘It was me. I used a hammer to smash the door in after two years of racial abuse from him.'”
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Khan, of Skinnergate, Perth, pleaded guilty on indictment admitted going to the door of Mr Graudumnieks’ flat on June 2 last year and repeatedly striking the door of the flat with a hammer, causing extensive damage and causing Mr Graudumnieks fear and alarm.
He also pleaded guilty to stealing the devices and possessing 2.6g of amphetamine.
Defence solicitor David Sinclair said: “He has had mental health problems.”
Sheriff Alastair Brown interjected: “They are somewhat self inflicted by drug misuse.”
Mr Sinclair continued: “The offence arose when he was staying alone in Dundee. He is now in supported accommodation and there has been a change in him.”
Sheriff Alastair Brown imposed a community payback order with two years supervision and 225 hours unpaid work.
He said: “I recognise you have certain mental health difficulties but I also observe that these difficulties are made a great deal worse, if not caused, by you misusing drugs.”
