A Montrose man has admitted stealing charity boxes from two of the town’s shops.
Appearing at Forfar Sheriff Court on Tuesday, Kenneth Thompson Milne, of Lower Craigo Street, admitted stealing the boxes from the Van Werninck Studio on Murray Street on October 29 and from Goody 2 Shoes on the High Street on November 12.
The 35-year-old also admitted that on October 28 he stole a jacket from the Factory Shop on the High Street.
All the offences took place when Milne was on bail.
Defence agent William Kermode said the combined sum stolen from the charity boxes was thought to be about £35.
The jacket was worth £25 and in each case there was no recovery by police.
Defence agent Billy Rennie said his client had stolen to fund a heroin habit. He told the court: “He has been remanded in custody since November 16 and prior to that he has worked as a landscape gardener for most of this year.
“The difficulty for Milne over the years has been drugs, heroin in particular, and that returned in the later part of this year and hence the offending.
“While he has been on remand, he has found that there is a significant problem with heroin within Perth prison.
“He has attended a programme for drug offenders while in prison so there is a glimmer of hope there.”
Sheriff Pino Di Emidio deferred sentence until January 7 for a criminal justice social work report and released Milne on bail.
He said: “I am going to call for this report given that there appears to be a slowdown in the rate of your offending.”