A pair of Dundee thieves who stripped tens of thousands of pounds worth of lead from the roof of a city business left the firm with a £65,000 repair bill.
Mark McFadyen and Shane Aberdein both pled guilty to taking lead from the roof of Water’s Edge offices in separate strikes in 2021.
Aberdein struck at the company headquarters first, in early April, before McFadyen made off with a similar haul just over a month later.
McFadyen, who is behind bars in HMP Perth, also admitted breaking into a builders’ headquarters in the city to take more than £4,000 worth of tools.
They will be sentenced in the new year after social work reports are prepared.
Water’s Edge targeted twice
Water’s Edge, at Dundee’s docks, Camperdown Street, is a premises with offices, meeting rooms and rentable co-working space.
Aberdein, 35, was the first to target the building, Forfar Sheriff Court was told.
On the afternoon of April 4, security firm Tayside Group received an alarm signalling two intruders were at the building.
An officer attended but saw nobody.
At 11.45pm, SecuriTay staff watching CCTV saw an intruder on the roof.
A security officer saw somebody running off.
When staff arrived at 9am, they reviewed security footage and saw two men on the roof.
An employee went up to the roof to find that 90 metres of lead – worth between £10,000 and £15,000 – had been removed. Repairs cost £31,369.
Struck again
McFadyen, 28, struck on May 10 2021.
At 9am the next day, staff realised water was leaking into units at the complex.
Between 50 and 60 sheets of lead flashing had been removed from the roof and only three sheets remained intact.
CCTV from almost midnight the night before was checked and McFadyen could be seen climbing onto the roof via a ledge above the main door.
Lead flashing was brought down and hidden in general waste bins in the neighbouring plumbers’ yard.
A Transit van was caught on CCTV arriving at 9.30am that morning to collect the metal.
The repairs cost £33,668.
Left DNA on snips
McFadyen also admitted stealing tools worth £4,460 from a city builders around the same time he targeted Water’s Edge.
Edwards Builders had been working at a four-storey listed building in Dundee’s Commercial Street for six or seven weeks when McFadyen struck.
The premises was locked at noon on Saturday, May 8 2021 and tools were left out of sight in the basement.
When workers returned at 7am the next Monday morning, kit worth thousands was gone.
A window and door were damaged and CCTV showed tools being moved to behind a skip outside.
McFadyen was snared when his DNA was found on a pair of snips he left behind.
Admissions
Aberdein, of Pitkerro Drive in Dundee, admitted stealing lead sheeting from Water’s Edge between April 4 and 6 in 2021.
McFadyen, of Kemnay Gardens in Dundee, admitted breaking into the Commercial Street property and stealing tools between May 8 and 10 2021.
He also admitted stealing lead from the roof of Water’s Edge between May 10 and 11 2021.
Both men have previous convictions for crimes of dishonesty the court was told.
Sheriff Mark Thorley deferred sentencing until January 25.
He continued Aberdein’s bail but kept McFadyen on remand.
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