A man stole a plastic mermaid statue from a garden and then told the owner he had bought it from some Travellers.
David Wright claimed he had paid £20 for the item and promised to return it to its rightful home.
However, he failed to do so and when officers went to Wright’s home they found it displayed in his own garden.
Depute fiscal Sue Ruta told the court the £15 statue had been placed at the front door of the true owner’s property.
“At 7.30pm on May 7 the householder received a call from her daughter indicating that the statue was missing,” she said.
“Two days later the householder was in the garden when she was approached by the accused.
“He said he had been approached by Travellers trying to sell items from the back of a lorry, including the mermaid statue.
“He said he’d bought it for £20 and it was safely locked in his shed and he would bring it to her.”
After two weeks had passed the police were called and recovered the statue from Wright’s garden.
Wright’s solicitor described the 55-year-old as “very vulnerable”.
He said the crime was not of the most serious nature and urged Sheriff Michael Fletcher not to impose a community payback order, as it would be “setting him up to fail”.
Wright, of Balgowan Road, Perth, had previously admitted stealing the statue from a property on Riggs Road on May 7. The offence was committed while he was on bail.
Sheriff Fletcher sentenced him to 30 days in prison, backdated to the beginning of July.