A bungling football stadium raider has been placed under supervision after police found the Fairy liquid bottles he stole on his windowsill.
Bottlecaps from Brian Stewart’s pilfered Schweppes orange juice were also found by police.
The 38-year-old caused around £1,000 of damage during his bungled break-in.
He was caught the same January weekend he broke into Montrose FC’s Links Park stadium.
‘Unpopular’ criminal
Stewart returned to the dock after a 12-week high tariff structured deferred sentence had finished.
Sheriff Mungo Bovey noted Stewart is on a bail curfew for another matter, which has been continued.
He said: “It’s good to have a housebreaker at his own home rather than other people’s.
“Breaking into the local football club will not make him popular, I suppose.”
Solicitor Billy Rennie said: “He’s still attending all his appointments.
“Effectively the court’s given him an opportunity. He seems to have taken that.
“That engagement can be continued now with a community payback order, having earned the trust of the social work department.”
The sheriff imposed supervision with a drug treatment conduct requirement as a direct alternative to custody.
The order will be reviewed on October 26.
Stole juice, washing-up liquid and cash
Stewart’s raid took place between 10pm on January 19 and 7.15am on January 20.
Fiscal depute Sam Craib previously told Forfar Sheriff Court his break-in was uncovered by the club’s groundsman, who arrived at 7.45am on the Friday morning.
He observed evidence of tampering with the serving window.
Inside the stadium, he saw footprints on the boot room door, accessed from the player’s tunnel.
Mr Craib said it appeared as though Stewart had tried to “jimmy the lock.”
After checks were carried out, several items were reported as missing.
A case of 24 Schweppes orange mixers was taken, along with a case of Fairy liquid.
Open bottles of pink gin and Jack Daniels, as well as the optics they were fitted in, were gone.
A cash box containing five pounds in change was gone, along with 12 envelopes containing £10 each and a green bucket on wheels.
Stewart, of Easterbank in Forfar, also managed to get his hands on the key to the club store but this was recovered on a hand sanitiser dispenser outside.
Fiscal depute Jill Drummond explained when police arrested Stewart, they found Schweppes bottlecaps outside and saw Fairy bottles on his windowsill.
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