A bungling mobile phone thief was caught after giving a shop his real details when he tried to sell it on.
Perth man Andrew Shaw (26) admitted taking the phone, which he had pawned, from Mobile Solutions on January 8.
The former Black Watch soldier, who previously played football for Scotland’s under-16 team, then sold the Blackberry device in another store and left them his full name and address.
Depute fiscal Stuart Richardson told Perth Sheriff Court: “Mr Shaw went into the shop at 9am and made an inquiry with a member of staff about acquiring a phone from them.
“While the member of staff was momentarily distracted he simply grabbed the phone and ran out. He then made his way to another mobile phone shop and sold the phone for £30.
“The police got information about what he had done so they went to the shop. When he had sold the phone he had very conveniently left all his correct details at the shop.”
Defence agent Rosemary Scott said: “The difficulty with this case is that it was really, really stupid.”
Sheriff Robert McCreadie interjected: “Of course it’s stupid. All crime is stupid by definition. I think one of the problems with him is that he has developed a criminal character.”
Ms Scott continued: “My understanding was that this was his phone originally.
“He had been given this Blackberry by his father. He had been short of money. This was like a pawn shop where you sell it and buy it back for an extra £10.
“He went back to the shop. He didn’t pay anything, but took the phone. He gave his full name, address and contact details. He knew the phone was not his because he had not the money to get it back.”
She said Shaw, of South William Street, had been made homeless the same day.
She said: “If the contact details had been checked, he had been evicted that morning.”
Sheriff McCreadie warned Shaw “don’t push me too far” before deferring sentence until next month for background reports.
In a previous case in 2009, Shaw was caught by police after stuffing bogus Ecstasy pills down his sock.
He had bought what he believed to be the class A drug in an attempt to treat suspected post-traumatic stress disorder, which he thought he had developed following a tour of Afghanistan.
After breaking down on the A90, Shaw flagged down passing police officers and then complained of a sore ankle. A search by the officers found he was carrying 107 fake Ecstasy pills.
The same year he was caught driving without insurance after his car broke down.