A Coupar Angus thief who stole a charity box for Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance has been jailed for six months.
Daniel Hughes, 24, swiped the charity box from Scone Fish and Chip Shop after ordering food at the takeaway.
Perth Sheriff Court heard that he stuffed the box up his jumper and ran out of the shop.
Staff members recognised Hughes as he had been a previous customer at the chip shop and had a distinctive dog tattoo on his arm.
Chip shop employee John Cowie said: “We had a customer who came in, placed an order and, as the boss came to bring the order through, the customer grabbed the charity box, threw it up his jumper and ran away.”
Mr Cowie said he gave chase but that Hughes disappeared into the streets around the shop with the charity box.
Flying to emergencies across the country, Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) has become a recognised part of the 999 emergency response network.
The service has proved its worth over and over again by slashing the time taken to get patients from accident scenes into medical care, and has attended more than 500 emergency callouts.
Sheriff Fiona Tait heard that Hughes, of Strathmore Avenue, is currently serving a sentence at HMP Perth for shoplifting. Hughes was found guilty of stealing the charity box and its contents on March 31 at the Perth Road store.
Hughes previously admitted that on April 16 at Co-op, Coupar Angus Road, Blairgowrie, he stole two bottles of juice.
He committed both offences while on bail, having been granted bail on March 25.