A Kirkcaldy man was on Valium when he stole from an elderly victim in an “appalling” housebreaking on his own street in the town.
Roy Tomlinson, 57, appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court for sentencing after earlier being found guilty of the break-in and theft in Cheviot Road.
On August 21 last year Tomlinson, while acting with another or others, broke into the man’s house and stole clothes, a wallet containing cards, a driving licence, an unknown quantity of cash and other items.
Defence lawyer Dewar Spence said his client, who lives in Cheviot Road, had gone four years since his last conviction and 10 years since his last similar crime.
The solicitor said the stolen items were, in general, recovered.
‘Very serious’
Sheriff John MacRitchie noted from the trial evidence it had not been established Tomlinson actually went into the house.
However, he said it was “horrific” the victim had experienced someone going into his bedroom and taking his possessions as he slept.
The sheriff described it as a “very serious offence”.
He told Tomlinson: “I heard the trial and listened to the elderly gentleman and while it does not appear to have been you in the occupant’s house, you are a person who has all the contents taken from the house in your possession within a very short space of time and distance of the locus.
“Clearly, you were significantly under the influence of Valium.”
The sheriff noted Tomlinson has already been on a curfew for 10 months and said he has a “terrible record for dishonesty”.
Sentencing
The sheriff said he would make Tomlinson subject to a structured deferred sentence “to see if you don’t return to ways of old and certainly not return to a way as appalling as this”.
He continued: “I can imagine what this elderly gentleman went through on realising people were in his bedroom when the housebreaking was carried out and taking items from his trousers which lay beside his bedside.
“It’s simply appalling.”
The sheriff handed Tomlinson a three-month structured deferred sentence, with a review date on September 16.
The sheriff added the complainer is a “vulnerable elderly gentleman” and he would not want Tomlinson anywhere near his house, so a bail condition related to that remains in place.
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