A “petrified” mum confronted a thief who was rifling through her family’s belongings and managed to talk him into leaving the house quietly.
The mother of two initially shouted at the thief to get out after she heard him rifling through her possessions at her home near Constitution Road in June.
She managed to engage serial thief Martin David Blake in conversation and calmly asked him to write down his name for her.
Although he gave a false name, the woman spotted a tattoo on his wrist bearing the name of his girlfriend, Dundee Sheriff Court heard.
Once he left, police were contacted and Blake, 42, was traced and arrested.
Blake, a prisoner at Perth, admitted that on June 25, while on bail, he broke into the house and stole a camera and a quantity of boxes.
Depute fiscal Nicola Gillespie told the court of Blake’s record before saying how the family had been in the UK for a matter of weeks.
“The complainer and her two children had been sleeping at the rear of the house and the woman woke up and came through to the front of her home, hearing sounds like somebody raking through boxes,” the fiscal said.
“She looked through the window of the room and saw the accused going through the boxes, which were on a shelf. She ran to the front door and opened it, shouting at him to leave.
“The accused said he was sorry for being there and said he had never done anything like that before. She was petrified, but managed to talk to him to ensure that he didn’t cause her any injury.
“She got him to write down his name, and although that was a false name, the complainer saw that he had the name Paula tattooed on his hand, near the wrist.
“The accused went and retrieved his jacket before leaving and police were called. Forensic officers found palm prints on the window and the accused was traced soon afterwards.”
Sheriff George Way said he wanted reports and deferred sentence on Blake until November 6, remanding him in custody.