A thief who stole credit cards after breaking into a house was nabbed by police as he was still using one of the cards while shopping Dundee.
Brian Middleton, 39, was jailed after he admitted stealing items worth a total of £2,800 during a break-in then buying tobacco with one of the credit cards he took.
Middleton, a prisoner at Perth, admitted three charges when he appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court.
Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson said Middleton had a lengthy list of previous convictions, including serious assault, theft by shoplifting, vandalism, breach of the peace and road traffic offences.
She said the complainer, Graeme Marshall, had returned to his home on Bingham Terrace to find a glass door smashed and his bedroom “ransacked”, with drawers opened and possessions strewn all over the floor.
A laptop, an iPad, two mobile phones, a bottle of whisky, a bottle of gin, a wallet containing cards, a watch, a jacket and a number of other items had been stolen.
He contacted police and card providers, one of which confirmed the thief had spent £20.70 in a store on Pitkerro Road using the card.
The fiscal said police went to the store and identified the accused from CCTV. He was then spotted entering shops on Murraygate, at about 2.10pm that afternoon.
Middleton was arrested and found in possession of some of the stolen property.
Solicitor Kevin Hampton told the court his client had a lengthy list of previous convictions and added: “He knows he’s going to jail.”
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael jailed him for a year.
Middleton admitted that on February 20, at Bingham Terrace, he broke into the property occupied by Mr Marshall, and stole the items while on bail.
He further admitted breaching a bail condition not to enter Dundee city centre by being on Murraygate on February 20.
He further admitted that on the same date, at the Premier Store on Pitkerro Road, he presented a credit card in the name of Mr Marshall and pretended to Umar Hayat that he was the owner of the card and induced him to supply him with tobacco and packs of cigarettes by fraud.
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