A thief who was found in a Perth couple’s bed in a ”nightmare version of Goldilocks” has been jailed for six months.
Perth Sheriff Court heard how garage owner Omar Al-Hamdani and his wife returned from a day out to find Mark McCole fast asleep in their bedroom. Mrs Al-Hamdani spotted McCole’s feet sticking out of their bed.
McCole (24), of Tulloch Road, Perth, had drunk alcohol and taken both cocaine and ecstasy.
On Monday, he admitted that on October 9 2011 he broke into a house at Queen Street, Perth, owned by Mr Al-Hamdani, and stole £48 and a necklace.
Depute fiscal Carol Whyte told the court the Al-Hamdanis left their house around 1pm and returned around 7pm.
”Mrs Al-Hamdani went into the bedroom and could detect a strong smell of alcohol,” she said. ”Then she noticed a pair of feet sticking out from under the duvet cover. She pulled back the covers and saw the accused lying on the bed and she started to scream.”
The court heard how her husband then ran into the bedroom and asked the accused what he was doing there.
”The accused jumped out of bed and staggered towards the kitchen,” Ms Whyte added. ”He was bleeding from his arm and the police were contacted on the emergency number.
“The officers had noticed that the accused had broken into the house by smashing a pane of glass at the back door. He had stolen £48 and a teardrop black necklace.”
Solicitor Paul Ralph, defending, said the incident was a ”nightmare version of Goldilocks.”
”My client had little recollection of the event as he had drunk alcohol and taken illicit substances, such as cocaine and ecstasy,” he said. ”His friend lived nearby but the Al-Hamdanis had the added aggravation of my client still being in their home when they got back.”
Sentencing McCole, Sheriff Michael Fletcher told him: ”This is a serious charge, particularly as you were still in the house when this couple arrived home. The only option is a custodial sentence.”
McCole also admitted that having been granted bail at Perth Sheriff Court on March 16 2011 he failed to appear at Perth Sheriff Court on June 9 2011.
In addition McCole pleaded guilty that having been granted bail at Perth Sheriff Court on March 16 2011 he failed to appear on March 6 this year and that he broke a bail condition by sending a message to a woman on Facebook on July 23 2011.
McCole was sentenced to six months in prison, which was backdated to March 22.
He was also ordered to carry out one year of a community payback order, which includes an alcohol intervention course, for the failure to appear charges on June 9 and March 6.
McCole was admonished on the charge of breaking a bail condition by contacting a woman through Facebook.