A Dundee drug addict stole toys from a young boy who was staying with him on holiday and sold them for money to buy drugs.
Daniel Hamilton, 31, was so desperate he stripped the child of his gaming devices and phone and cashed them in to purchase heroin.
Today a sheriff warned Hamilton his liberty was at serious risk because of his long record.
Fiscal depute Catriona MacQueen said the boy had come to stay at a house in Perth, where Hamilton was living at the time.
The court heard Hamilton and the youngster had spent time together.
She told Perth Sheriff Court: “He was with the boy throughout the days he was staying.
“This relates to more than one instance where he took various electronic items from the boy.
“He would then go to Trading Places, a shop in Perth, to trade in the items which belonged to the boy.
“The accused is a regular drug user and it’s suggested he was doing so to fund his habit.”
Hamilton, of Hilltown Court, Dundee, admitted that on numerous occasions between 28 February and 10 March last year he stole items from an address in Perth.
He took a PS Vita, a Kindle, a Samsung Galaxy tablet, an XBox games console with controllers and games, and a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge phone.
Miss MacQueen told the court the total value of the items stolen was £640 and the vast majority of the goods was not recovered.
Solicitor Steve Lafferty, defending, said: “He appreciates this offence was a breach of trust.
“He has had a longstanding drug problem. He has the motivation to get himself drug free.”
Sheriff William Wood said: “Plainly this is pretty low behaviour when you are stealing from a child.
“Given your record your liberty is very much in jeopardy.”
Sentence was deferred for reports.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.