A baffled homeowner set up a secret surveillance operation to find out who had been drinking her whisky while she was at work.
Company owner Victoria Banks was amazed when she discovered the culprit was a stranger who had been breaking in and out of her Blairgowrie house helping himself to her alcohol.
James Reid took gulps of whisky and then topped up the bottle with water to cover his tracks before leaving her home and locking the door behind him.
Reid had discovered a house key hidden under a stone outside the property and had used it to enter Miss Banks’ home on a number of occasions to quench his thirst.For more on this story, see Tuesday’s CourierBut he was finally caught when she turned detective and set up a camera system linked to a phone app which alerted her to movement in her home.
Perth Sheriff Court was told that Reid was identified from the footage and freely admitted he had been using Miss Banks’ home as an impromptu bar.
Reid, 54, of Fordie Mains Farm, Perth, admitted breaking into the house in Gowan Brae, Blairgowrie, on February 9 and stealing whisky and wine. The Crown accepted his not guilty plea to a similar offence on February 2.
He was ordered to carry out 90 hours of unpaid work as part of a community payback order and fined £30.