Drug addict broke into fire station and pinched mobile phones

Allan Dearie (36) forced open a window at the fire station at Westfield and made off with mobile phones, clothing, a radio and a laptop computer.

Appearing at Falkirk Sheriff Court today, Dearie admitted the fire station theft he committed on October 20 and another theft at The Range, in Falkirk Central Retail Park on October 16.

On that occasion the court heard a keyholder from the store was called out in the middle of the night after an intruder alarm activated and found the back gates open. She spotted Dearie in the street pushing a pile of goods in boxes stacked up on a pallet truck.

Procurator fiscal depute Samantha Brown said: “She challenged him and he said he was moving home, but when he was told the police had been called he dropped a number of the items on the road and ran off.”

Around £400 worth of property was recovered, including boxes of cups, egg timers, make-up and electrical goods.

Property stolen from the fire station was found at his home in Falkirk after the CCTV footage from cameras at The Range was viewed and he was traced.

Falkirk man Dearie, who has a string of previous convictions for dishonesty, was told by Sheriff Craig Caldwell: “Your offending has become horrific. These were extremely serious offences that involved significant planning, and significant attention to the means by which you made off with the items that you had stole.”

Dearie was jailed for 14 months.