A heartless thief stole a golf buggy which had been bought by a disabled man so he could continue to play golf.
The victim had recently had a leg amputated and had bought the £2,200 buggy to help get around the course.
The next day, the thief, Martin Whyte, broke into a house where a couple and their children were sleeping.
He stole £1,000 worth of consoles and games and drove them away in the family’s car.
Whyte, 22, prisoner at Perth, has been jailed for more than two years after admitting the break-ins.
He pleaded guilty to a string of offences when he appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.
On July 2 or 3 at Duart Place, Glenrothes, he forced open a locked garage owned by Joseph Allan and stole a golf buggy.
On July 4 he broke into the house owned by Nicola Wood in Balfour Gardens, Glenrothes, and stole two computer consoles, a computer tablet, a quantity of computer games and DVDs, a handbag and a car key.
He also admitted that on the same day he stole a car from outside the same house in Balfour Gardens and he committed the offence while on bail.
Depute fiscal Claire Bremner said: “Mr Allan has restricted mobility having recently lost a leg and as such he purchased the buggy so that he could continue to play golf.”
At 7pm on July 2 Mr Allan and his wife went out to a social event.
At around 11am the next morning Mr Allan went to his garage and found the door was not now locked. When he looked inside he saw the golf buggy was missing.
Police were called and the buggy was later found in bushes after a search of the surrounding area.
Whyte’s DNA was found on the buggy. The court was told he had been hoping to find electrical items to sell on but abandoned the buggy in bushes after taking it for a drive.
The next day Whyte broke into a house as a couple and their three children were sleeping, stole electronic goods then drove away the family car.
He stole the children’s PlayStation 4 and Xbox consoles, along with other items.
The break-in was only discovered after Mrs Wood noticed her Ford Fiesta was missing from the driveway. She then noticed marks on the back door which suggested it had been forced upon.
Police investigating the theft studied CCTV images and saw the car being stolen from the house at around 12.50am.
At 2.15am, images showed the car at the McDonald’s drive-through take-away in Kirkcaldy.
Officers were on the trail of Whyte and obtained a warrant to search his sister’s home where he was staying.
The key to the car was found in the living room and the vehicle was parked nearby. The other items stolen were not recovered.
Sheriff Charles Macnair told Whyte: “You have a very bad record of similar offences of dishonesty.
“You broke into a property occupied by a family, including children.
“Breaking into an occupied property has a significant impact on the victims well beyond the theft of their belongings.
“The invasion of property can have a devastating effect on householders and they are entitled to see that the court sentences accordingly.”
Whyte was jailed for 19 months and two weeks for the Balfour Gardens break-in and a further 206 days for the break-in and theft of the golf buggy, making a total of just over 26 months.
