A Dundee homeowner was threatened with violence after he walked in on thieves stealing his family’s possessions, the city’s sheriff court has heard.
John Phinn, 38, of HMP Perth, was returned to jail for 28 months on Tuesday after breaking into the home of a young couple with an eight-week-old baby on December 20.
Depute fiscal Charmaine Gilmartin told the court the male homeowner was confronted with Phinn when he arrived home at 2.20pm.
She said: “He had a feeling there was someone else in the property and, assuming it was his partner, he shouted hello.
“At that point he was faced with the accused standing in the kitchen with a large holdall in his hand. The man grabbed hold of the accused and asked what he was doing.
“The accused told him there was someone else in the house and that if he let him go they wouldn’t hurt him.”
The man let Phinn go and he left the house without the belongings he was attempting to steal along with his accomplice.
The holdall Phinn had been filling up was found to contain £1,765 worth of items he intended to steal, including a phone, two laptops, a cycling kit, a computer games console and an alarm clock.
The court heard it was only after Phinn left the man discovered damage to the front door caused by Phinn when he kicked it in to gain entry.
Police detained Phinn shortly afterwards and discovered a jewellery box that contained keepsakes given to the couple to mark the birth of their child.
Defence solicitor Paul Parker Smith said Phinn’s record showed “house breaking after house breaking” to feed his habit and said he was stuck in a revolving door as he was in and out of prison.
Phinn’s 28-month sentence was backdated to December.
The homeowner said: “I am surprised at the sentence, because the Scottish Government said anyone who broke into a house and stole property at Christmas would get five years in prison.”