A Fife man stole a 4×4 from a local farm and passed it on to be shipped to Birmingham in exchange for £500.
Darren White admitted stealing the unsecured Land Rover Defender from Montrave Farm, between Leven and Cupar, after exchanging pleasantries with people he had passed en route.
Having been left unsecured by a farmer, White made off with the vehicle in the afternoon and was not detected until the owner finished work.
Police identified White, of Bowhouse Place in Methilhill, from the farm’s CCTV but it was a tyre fitter who had previously worked on the 4×4 who spotted it first.
The fitter drove past the vehicle being towed by a Ford Ranger on the A92 near Prestonhall Roundabout and then got home to see the vehicle posted as missing on social media.
CCTV helped trace the vehicle in Kinglassie, where its number plates had been changed.
Witness claims labelled ‘hogwash’
The witness in whose unit the car was found said he did not know it was stolen.
This claim was labelled as “hogwash” by White’s solicitor David Bell in Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.
He said the buyer had taken the vehicle off White for £500 with a mind to ship it to Birmingham.
He said: “(The witness) is in on this.
“The witness’s account to police is hogwash.
“I think to be fair, my client had a terrible drug problem.
“He stole the vehicle and knew there was a place he could offload the vehicle.
“My client got £500 for the vehicle.
“His record shows that he has done this sort of thing before.
“He’s taken it with a view to sell it.”
Farmyard theft ‘industry’
38-year-old White admitted stealing the vehicle on April 10 last year.
Sheriff James Williamson said he had planned to jail White for two years but decided to order a social work report first.
White was released from nine and a half months in custody in March 2022.
Mr Bell said the father-of-one had kicked his drug habit while in prison.
Sheriff Williamson said: “There is a bit of an industry of theft of farmyard equipment.
“It would be naïve to suggest that this was just happenstance.”
White will be sentenced on August 11.
