Grangemouth offender helped himself to collection of antiques and took them to display in his home

When police searched Shaun Buckie’s home they found a number of items that matched a list of stolen goods from an address in the same street. He told them he had found them and had not broken in anywhere.

Appearing at Falkirk Sheriff Court last Thursday, Buckie, 41, had pleaded guilty to stealing antique goods – by finding them – at a premises in Grangeburn Road, Grangemouth between December 18 and December 19, 2022.

The charges stated Buckie had taken antique china plates, tea sets, vases, clocks, ornamental figurines, religious framed statues and a guitar.

Steven Lynch, procurator fiscal depute, said: “The witness works as an antiques dealer and stores a number of items within a shed at the address. It was 1.30am when he received a notification via a security system and contacted police.

"Police arrived at the home address of the accused with details of what had been taken from the shed. While within the accused’s address they saw a number of items that were deemed to be antiques.

"The accused stated, ‘it’s not housebreaking when you find belongings’.”

The court heard Buckie saw the goods and simply took them to place in his 66 Grangeburn Road, Grangemouth home.

Sheriff Craig Harris placed him on a structured deferred sentence for three months to see how he gets on with his medication and treatment which he is undergoing and to see if he can stay out of trouble in that time.