A rampant thief who stole thousands of pounds worth of goods and led police on a wild car chase has been locked up.
A mother had to jump out of the way to avoid Scott Ney, 29, as he blitzed through the Kirkton area of Dundee in June last year.
In a separate incident, the city’s sheriff court was told how Ney sped through the same area before driving through Caird Park.
Ney was locked up after he pled guilty to dangerous driving, as well as charges of stealing copper, lead, bicycles and a vacuum cleaner.
Lead raid
On May 26 last year, Ney broke into the derelict Craigtoun Hospital in St Andrews and stole £1,000 of lead.
The crook was captured on CCTV in the driver’s seat of a car.
Police were able to fully recover the lead.
Prosecutor Sarah Wilkinson explained how police spotted Ney driving on Craigmore Street, Dundee, in an “erratic” manner.
She said: “The accused harshly accelerated towards Beauly Avenue.
“He then travelled onto Dunmore Street.
“A witness returned to her vehicle with two young children and saw the car travelling at speed.
“Her daughter managed to run onto a footpath to avoid the vehicle.
“However, the witness had to take evasive action and drag her youngest child onto the pavement to prevent being struck.”
The car was later found abandoned on Derwent Avenue.
Police chase in Dundee
On July 8 this year, police chased Ney as he weaved in and out of lanes at speeds in excess of 50mph before reaching Caird Park.
Officers stopped pursuing Ney as they deemed the chase to be too dangerous.
They were, however, able to identify him as the driver.
Ney, a prisoner of HMP Perth, also pled guilty to stealing copper from NWH Group, Nobel Road, on July 23 last year.
He also admitted charges of stealing two bicycles from Spokes, Annfield Road, on June 7 and June 21 this year as well as making off with a vacuum cleaner from Asda, Milton of Craigie, on July 3.
Jailed and banned
Ney’s solicitor, Theo Finlay, said issues with his former partner as well as mental health difficulties were contributing factors to a year of a “chaos”.
“He has a bad record and he’s a young man with intelligence and potential.
“This latter spate of offending has been brought about by domestic disruption.
“He has a lot to blame for that chaos.”
Sheriff Gregor Murray disqualified Ney from driving for 36 months and sentenced him to a total of 681 days in prison.
