A serial hot tub thief has been jailed for more than three-and-a-half years – after repeatedly breaking into sheds and stealing the owners’ inflatable jacuzzis.
Andrew Pattie was already in hot water when he started his three-week long theft spree after being caught dealing drugs from his flat in Dundee.
Pattie was at one stage spotted carting his ill-gotten gains around the city in a wheelie bin and told one onlooker: “I’m on the tan.”
Weeks before his theft spree last November Pattie was found dealing heroin from the flat he shared with his partner in Dundee’s Hilltown Court after she overdosed and died.
Cops who turned up to investigate the sudden death found more than £30,000 of heroin in the flat and evidence Pattie had been dealing heroin from the property.
After being bailed in relation to the drugs charges Pattie carried out nine thefts in the space of three weeks across Dundee – stealing three hot tubs from separate properties as well as items including an Elvis magazine, Beatles memorabilia and a coin collection.
A sheriff asked Pattie’s lawyer: “Has he found a ready market for hot tubs?”
His lawyer replied: “He may well have done.”
Fiscal depute Charmaine Gilmartin told the city’s sheriff court: “These offences demonstrate the accused participating in a course of conduct entering vehicles and outbuildings in the early hours of the morning over the period.
“He would leave his home in the early hours of the morning over that period and return with items he had stolen.
“It was often power tools but also included items like inflatable hot tubs, car badges, Beatles memorabilia and alcohol miniatures.”
The hot tubs were stolen from addresses in Clattowoods Place, St Ninians Terrace and Tweed Crescent over the course of five days in November.
Only one was found – with Pattie being linked to the crime after a glove with his DNA inside it was found at the scene where he had dumped the hot tub.
Narrating the drug dealing charge, Mrs Gilmartin added: “Police were called to the sudden death of his partner at the address on September 11.
“The locus was secured for further enquiry and during a search a significant quantity of drugs were found.
“In total 671.2 grams of heroin were found with a potential street value of £33,560.”
Pattie, 25, a prisoner at HMP Perth, pleaded guilty on indictment to nine theft charges committed in November 2017 and being concerned in the supply of heroin on September 11 last year.
Defence solicitor David Duncan said: “He knows people in the area and it would not be difficult for him to move these items on. He accepts custody is inevitable and has accepted that.
“The drug charges cause social harm to other people and he has experienced that himself. He will take a long time to recover from what has occurred.”
Sheriff Alastair Brown jailed Pattie for a total of three years and seven months.
