D Jamieson tele news 29/10 court. Dundee Sheriff Court.
A Dundee shoplifter who asked to be jailed for long enough to deal with his heroin addiction while inside was sentenced to 10 months in prison.
James Myers Cunningham (38), Kingsburn Gardens, admitted stealing meat from Tesco Metro, Murraygate, on October 29.
He also appeared for sentence for breaching a probation order imposed for an earlier shoplifting offence.
His lawyer Michael Short told the court Cunningham was struggling with a drug problem and previous sentences he had received had been too short to allow him to be placed on an appropriate regime in prison.
As such, Mr Short said he was taking the unusual step of appealing to the sheriff not to defer sentence for a background report but simply to jail Cunningham straight away and for a period long enough to allow him to be placed on a drugs treatment programme.
Sheriff Elizabeth Munro sentenced Cunningham to six months for the breach of probation and a further four months for the more recent offence, adding, “That should get you on to a programme.”
