A pair of bungling thieves who were captured after getting trapped inside the house they broke into were yesterday jailed for a total of 40 months.
Hapless Del Banks and Liam Pringle were spotted clambering into a semi-detached property in Perth’s Craigie area.
But once inside, they couldn’t find a way to get out.
Police threw a cordon around the house and tried to smash their way inside.
Eventually, the pair became fed-up waiting and climbed out through the living room window.
Yesterday, Banks and Pringle appeared at Perth Sheriff Court, having pleaded guilty to a charge of housebreaking with intent to steal on the afternoon of January 29.
Serial raider Banks, 27, was jailed for 24 months and will be on police supervision for a year after his release.
Pringle, 28, who does not have previous convictions for house-breaking, was jailed for 14 months and will be placed on suspended release order for seven months.
Sheriff William Wood was urged by solicitors not to send the men to jail.
Billy Somerville, agent for Banks, said his client had become institutionalised. “Prison no longer works for him,” he said.
Sheriff Wood told the pair: “You both have a serious drug problem and the public have to be protected from the consequences of that.
“Please take this opportunity to take steps to free yourself from the vice-like grip of this problem.”
The two men, both described in court papers as prisoners in Perth, were on the look-out for a place to steal from and spotted an open bathroom window at an empty house in Cavendish Avenue.
Neighbours raised the alarm when they saw the two men going through the window, after climbing on top of a nearby roof.
Officers saw Pringle in the kitchen and made attempts to contact the home-owner.
Police then tried to force the front door open by smashing one of the panels, but when they reached inside they could not find a key or unlocking mechanism.
Some time later, Pringle came to the door and said he was willing to leave, but could not get out of the door.
The court heard that nothing was stolen and the only damage was caused by police when they tried to get inside.
Mr Somerville said Banks should be handed a drug testing and treatment order, as an alternative to prison. “He quite clearly recognises the link between his drug taking and his offending,” he said.
Cliff Culley, representing Pringle, said: “He has had some time to reflect on this.
“Mr Pringle is a relatively intelligent young man and it is disappointing that drugs have had such an effect on his life.”
