A Dunfermline flat was broken into while the new resident was still in the process of moving her property into it.
Sarah Watson, 22, of Elder Place, Rosyth, admitted that on April 26 or 27, she broke into a flat on William Street, Dunfermline, stealing children’s toys, clothing, a TV, a LeapPad, toiletries and foodstuffs.
Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard Watson had moved in to live for a few days with a friend in the same close as the break-in around the time of the offence.
Depute fiscal Peter Motion said the victim had moved property into her new home on the evening of Sunday April 26 and then left, locking the flat.
She returned at 8.30am the next morning to find some items of her property lying outside her flat, whose door had been forced open.
Going inside, she found the items she had taken in the night before were missing, as was a 22-inch flat-screen TV.
That morning, the man Watson was staying with woke up to find new items in his home.
Mr Motion said police officers went to the address to investigate and found extensive damage in the raided address.
He added: “When police attended they observed the front door of the flat severely damaged and it had been taken off its hinges. They made door-to-door inquiries.”
When they went to Watson’s friend’s flat he invited them inside and they found property belonging to the victim.
“He said he had not been at home the previous evening,” Mr Motion continued.
The court was told Watson had taken heroin, valium and alcohol before the offence and had little recollection of the incident.
Sheriff Charles Macnair said: “People are entitled to feel secure in their homes. When that security is breached by housebreaking, it’s not just the loss of belongings it’s also the impact it has on that sense of security.
“It’s worse in this case because this was a house the complainer was just moving into.
“To have that violated when she was in the process of moving must have been very distressing for her.”
The sheriff imposed a jail term of 13 months and 15 days.