A serial housebreaker who was caught in a 95-year-old dementia sufferer’s home has been jailed.
Craig Russell also stole tens of thousands of pounds worth of jewellery from two other homes and tried to pawn some for cash.
The HMP Low Moss inmate appeared by video link at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on Tuesday to be sentenced.
Target had dementia
He had admitted breaking into the 95-year-old’s home in Broomhead Park in Dunfermline on June 10.
The pensioner’s daughter, who was also her carer, caught the 29-year-old in the property.
She had arrived just after 5pm and rushed into the living room when she heard banging, believing her mother may have fallen.
The woman came face-to-face with Russell, who had tea towels over his hands.
She believed he was using them to conceal his fingerprints.
The daughter screamed at him: “What are you doing in my mum’s house?”
Russell, a roughcaster to trader, told her he was “needing a key” before running outside and into a car.
He then ran off when he was challenged.
Russell never stole anything from the property, the court heard.
First haul
On May 27, Russell raided a home in Headwell Drive in Dunfermline, making off with thousands in cash and even more in jewellery.
The residents had been out walking their dog when the crook raided their home in the middle of the afternoon.
He had attended at a nearby address that afternoon and inquired about roughcasting work but had been told to leave.
The dog walkers returned home at around 3.15pm and found “items strewn around the floor.”
An envelope containing between £7,000 and £8,000 was missing, along with between $400 and $500 in US dollars. Medication had been taken too.
Drawers had been left open and the family reported to police that “up to 100” items of jewellery had been swiped.
Russell had been caught on CCTV and police later checked his description against security footage of people leaving Jamesbank Hostel in Dunfermline earlier that day. They got a match.
His fingerprints were also found inside the home.
He admitted to breaking in and stealing jewellery, a rucksack, cash and two gaming controllers.
Lochgelly raid
Russell’s final target before being apprehended was a property in Lochgelly’s Station Road.
He climbed in through the bathroom window and left a trail of muddy footprints before plundering the home.
The occupant left for work at 8am, and returned home at noon.
She found drawers had been pulled open and storage boxes had been pulled out from beneath beds.
In total, Russell had purloined 54 items of jewellery, valued at £20,000 altogether.
CCTV showed Russell trying door handles around an hour after the woman had left that morning.
He later admitted to breaking into the home on July 7 and stealing jewellery from within.
Recovery
Police later recovered a rucksack full of jewellery stashed in bushes in Inverkeithing.
In total, 23 pieces of jewellery were found, believed to be worth £500.
Officers also checked with local pawnbrokers and found that on the same day he raided the home in Lochgelly, Russell had visited the Ramsdens branch in Dunfermline’s Kingsgate.
He did not enter the store but waited outside as someone else pawned his pilfered loot.
Some of the jewellery was damaged and £8,000 worth has not been recovered.
His solicitor explained that following a work accident, Russell, a father, had developed a painkiller addiction.
Sheriff James Williamson told Russell: “There’s no alternative to a custodial sentence.”
The sheriff jailed him for 30 months, backdated to July when he was first remanded.
