Thieves who ransacked a Dundee chip shop and stole its tills after taking the owner’s car have been spared prison sentences.
Keys to Tony’s takeaway on Linfield Place were discovered inside Zubair Saleem’s Mercedes when it was taken by Kelly Horn and Peter Winks.
They previously pled guilty to breaking into the shop on December 11-12 last year.
Prosecutor Sarah Wilkinson outlined to Dundee Sheriff Court how Winks, 44, “ransacked the place and stole two cash registers and a CCTV unit – there was £200 within the tills.”
Winks and Horn, 35, were later apprehended by police, having managed to enter the shop just before 5.45am.
Winks had also stolen another vehicle which he had crashed into a fence.
It was found with the engine still running and the keys in the ignition.
Winks, a prisoner at HMP Perth, pled guilty to stealing two cars on Janefield Place and Woodlands Terrace, respectively.
Both he and Horn, of Fairbairn Street, admitted breaking into the takeaway and stealing.
Repeat offender Winks has previously served prison sentences for housebreakings.
Crack addict
Solicitor Ross Bennett revealed how, after being released from prison in July 2023, Winks relapsed into crack cocaine use after trying to stay away from former associates.
“He would go along a series of cars and try the door handles.
“He found keys in the Mercedes and also found paperwork relating to that and thought this was an opportunity which he availed himself of.
“He accepts there would be psychological damage to the owner given that the place was ransacked.
“He feels he’s getting a bit old about the gills to be going in and out of prison.”
Horn’s solicitor, John Boyle, said his client was stable on a methadone programme and had no other cases outstanding.
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael placed Winks, who has served the equivalent of a two-year sentence on remand, on a high-tariff structured deferred sentence until January.
Horn was placed on a restriction of liberty order keeping her indoors between 7pm and 7am for three months.
She was also made subject to supervision for two years with a conduct requirement to engage with addiction services.
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