Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Thief jailed after plundering charity cash raised for families in need from Kirkcaldy community centre

Thief stole money raised for the Cottage Family Centre's Christmas appeal for families living in poverty
Thief stole money raised for the Cottage Family Centre's Christmas appeal for families living in poverty

A drug addict who stole money raised to feed families in need at Christmas has been jailed.

Michael Wilson, 39, broke into a Kirkcaldy community centre after a fundraiser had been held for the Cottage Family’s Centre annual festive appeal.

The charity provides food and gifts for hundreds of families living in poverty and organisers of a Christmas fair were devastated to learn proceeds were gone.

Wilson, who committed the theft to feed his drug habit just days after being released from jail, admitted breaking into Hayfield Community Centre on December 3 and stealing money and computer equipment.

He was caught when a hard drive he took from the CCTV system and threw away in the street was found and given to police.

Wilson, a prisoner at Perth, appeared in the dock at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

Depute fiscal Ron Hay said proceeds from the charity event had been locked in a filing cabinet and the premises were secured at 1pm on December 2.

A staff member arrived at 6.30am the following day and found a door unlocked.


>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The Courier newsletter


It appeared a fire door had been jemmied open and, the court was told, two laptops worth £500 each and £600 in cash taken.

When police viewed footage from the stolen CCTV hard drive, which a member of the public found, they saw Wilson walk down a lane next to the centre shortly after midnight and hide behind bins as vehicles passed. Wilson then walked towards the fire exit.

Wilson also admitted stealing groceries from the Co-op, Lauder Road, Kirkcaldy on December 8.

His solicitor David Bell admitted his client had a “significant record of similar offending”.

He said Wilson had a history of drug misuse and at the time of these offences was taking heroin and crack cocaine.

“He was trying to raise funds to pay for this addiction,” he added.

“Having gone to the trouble of taking the hard drive it was then found abandoned on a path, which was not the smartest move and perhaps an indication of his condition at the time.”

Wilson had only been released from jail in November.

Sheriff Pino di Emidio jailed Wilson for 22 months, backdated to December 16 when he was taken into custody.