A pair of thieves working on the demolition of Tayside House in Dundee were each jailed for nine months.
Jason Senior and Jason McHale, both 27, Raynville Road, Leeds, were caught by police officers on a back road north of Forfar with a haul of property from a rural house they had raided shortly before.
The court heard the owners had left their home at about 8pm on April 6 to go for a night out, securing the property near Justinhaugh where they had lived for almost 20 years.
Fiscal depute Hannah Kennedy told Forfar Sheriff Court a neighbour had contacted police in relation to another incident and officers were on their way to the area when they found the two accused, one of them crouching down beside the grass verge with two bags.
“One matched the description of a male they were looking for and on examining a telephone found in a bag, one of the police officers recognised the complainer’s name and where they lived,” the fiscal said.
“They went to the address and found that the property had been broken into.”
The pair took about £500 of goods, including a watch, car keys, mobile phone and jewellery. They were later recovered.
Defence agent Bob Bruce said both men were part of a Liverpool firm’s demolition squad working on Tayside House, who will then be moving on to other properties including the Olympia. He said Senior had received some bad news from his girlfriend about the loss of the child they were expecting and the thought of returning to Leeds was what was in his mind.
Sheriff Kevin Veal said: “Both have significant records and I note that Mr Senior was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment in 2011 and Mr McHale to five years in 2010. This was a break-in to a private house and was discovered by very keen policing.”