A Forfar drug addict with 65 previous court appearances has been sent to jail for 18 months for his latest string of offences.
They included a sneak-in theft in the early hours at a Forfar house during which Kevin Paton stole almost £1,000 worth of goods as a family slept upstairs, and an electricity meter offence police uncovered at his home as they were investigating the crime.
Paton delivered a volley of foul-mouthed abuse at Sheriff Kevin Veal as he was led from the dock of the town’s sheriff court following sentencing on Thursday.
Depute fiscal Hannah Kennedy told the court the December sneak-in theft happened around 1am.
“The family were alerted by their dogs barking and one of them came down to investigate, but it was not until the next day that the full extent of the theft was discovered,” the fiscal said.
Items including bank cards and a laptop were taken.
Police officers found Paton hiding at the house of an associate the following day and their investigations then also led them to the accused’s home, where it became clear the electricity meter had been tampered with.
The court heard Paton’s actions resulted in £77 worth of electricity being obtained and caused £794 worth of damage to the meter.
Paton, 36, of Dundee Loan, Forfar, also admitted assaulting his former partner when she was holding a young child, wrapping his hand around her hair in the incident.
He then started throwing some of the woman’s belongings outside and called police to say that he wanted her out of the property, but when they arrived the assault was reported and Paton detained.
Defence agent Bob Bruce said his client had been under the influence of drugs at the time of the break-in and had absolutely no recollection of the incident.
He originally appeared on petition on that matter and spent 71 days on remand. Mr Bruce told the court Paton is on a daily methadone prescription and has been volunteering at a Forfar recycling project.
Sheriff Veal said: “The break-in to a house where people were asleep is a matter of grave concern and the fact almost £1,000 worth of goods were stolen is quite disgraceful.
“At that time he was on a deferred sentence and subject to the recall of the unexpired portion of a December 2012 sentence.
“I think the public, bluntly, need an extended rest from his criminal activities,” he said.