A sex shop raider who stole more than £7,000 of kinky underwear from an adult store has been jailed for almost three years.
Charles Forbes carried out the raid on the Desire sex shop in Dundee’s Albert Street with the aid of an unknown accomplice.
They piled a stack of stolen lingerie into Forbes’s Ford Focus before making off.
His motor was found by cops just hours later with knickers strewn across the back seat.
But he was not arrested and charged at that time despite being found by officers who instead let him go, allowing him to carry out a sickening break in attempt at the home of a 74-year-old woman 10 days later.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard she had been left so traumatised by the offence that she has had to leave the home she owns because she feels “insecure” there.
Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson told the court: “Desire is an adult lingerie shop.
“A member of the public saw the accused and another male about 5.30am on September 13 last year acting suspiciously outside it, moving in and out with their hands full over various items.
“Police were called after they made off and when they attended they could see a rear window had been removed – that was the point of entry.
“The shop appeared to have been rummaged through.
“Police were aware of the vehicle they were looking for and it was found around 11.30am with various underwear strewn across the rear of the vehicle.
“The accused was seen walking towards the car and was spoken to but not at that time arrested.
“The total value of underwear stolen was £7,400 and it was fully recovered.
“On September 23 the occupier of a property in Forfar Road, a 74-year-old woman, heard banging noises in the night but did not immediately act on it.
“In the morning she found her shed had been broken into and her garage door handle had been broken off.
“Her CCTV system captured the accused attempting to gain entry to her property through the front door, but was ultimately unsuccessful.”
Forbes, 30, a prisoner at HMP Perth, pleaded guilty on indictment to charges of theft by housebreaking and attempted theft by housebreaking committed on September 13 and 23 last year.
Defence solicitor Anika Jethwa said: “He was released in relation to the first matter after being spoken to by police.
“He feels heart sorry for the way he behaved in relation to these offences.”
Sheriff Alastair Brown jailed Forbes for two years and 10 months and ordered that he be supervised upon his release for a further year.
He said: “Commercial premises are not fair game, the nature of the shop does not matter.
“You then tried to break in to somebody’s home.
“I don’t know for how long this lady had lived there but any attempt to break in to somebody’s home creates feelings of insecurity and violation.
“That’s what you did to this lady and she has had to move.”
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