A ram-raider who carried out a £21,000 smash-and-grab on a Broughty Ferry Premier store has been sent to prison for 18 months.
Daniel Blake was in the stolen Kia Sportage driven at speed into the main window of the shop on Claypotts Road.
Blake and accomplice Lee Howard carried off a large plastic bin stuffed with £3000 worth of tobacco and alcohol.
Dundee Sheriff Court was told the damage caused amounted to £18,400.
Howard had earlier stolen the six-month old, £40,000 Kia from outside it’s owner’s home on Strathmartine Road after sneaking into her house for the keys.
Fiscal depute Lynn Mannion told the court: “At 12.45am the witness was driving to work.
“Passing the store they saw a vehicle parked with the passenger door lying open and they had to take evasive action to go round it.
“They heard the alarm and saw the window was smashed.
“They drove back round and saw a male crouched at the passenger door picking up items.
“Police attended and viewed CCTV footage.
“A Kia Sportage had rammed into the shop window.
“The accused entered the shop with another male.
“They carried items out in a large plastic bin.
“There was alcohol and tobacco worth £3000 taken.
“The cost of damage to the stock and store was £18,400.”
Blake, 45, from Dundee, admitted breaking into the Premier Store on January 18 2023 and stealing stock.
Solicitor Jim Laverty, defending, told the court: “He is realistic enough to realise custody is inevitable.
“It did appear to be a rather spontaneous offence.
“The driver appears to have come upon the idea.
“He accepts he should have distanced himself from what was going on.
“He was involved in drug misuse and found it difficult to overcome that particular addiction.”
In October last year, Howard, 39, was jailed for 32 months.
Speaking at the time, shop owner Saim Mohammad said the he car smashed into shelves of wine, damaging £10,000 worth of bottles.
Saim said: “We tried our best to get back to normal the very next day after the crash.
“People think that if anything happens you can just claim insurance on it straight away but that’s not always the case.
“Even if you can claim, your premium goes up.
“For the thieves it’s a fun, small thing, but they never realise how we have been suffering after it.
“It took days for us to clear all that mess and bring things back to normal.”
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