Dundee ‘mighty thief’ swung drug pipe at Asda worker when caught stealing Xbox controllers

A crack addict from Dundee swung a drug pipe at an Asda employee who caught him stealing Xbox controllers.

Barry Davies appeared from custody at Dundee Sheriff Court to admit a string of offending towards city retail workers.

As well as the Asda offence, Davies targeted B&Q and The Range twice during a fortnight of shop strikes.

He has been given until October to re-engage with his ongoing court-ordered social work intervention and with community mental health.

A sheriff who called him a “mighty thief” said: “If he doesn’t re-engage, hell mend him.”

Plethora of offending

Davies, 43, of Pitalpin Court in Dundee, admitted that on September 7 this year, he acted in a threatening or abusive manner towards an employee at Asda on Myrekirk Road.

Already on bail, he stated he had a knife and brandished something similar to one at the worker.

He stole Xbox controllers worth £60.

Davies also admitted that two days later, at B&Q at Kings Cross Road in Dundee and stole power tools worth £75, which are also still untraced.

On September 17, he attended at The Range at The Stack in Lochee and assaulted an employee who suspected him of shoplifting.

Davies lashed out his arms, striking the man on the head and causing his glasses to fall off.

On September 19 – the day before he appeared in the dock from custody – he returned to The Range and was again threatening or abusive towards an employee by making violent threats and stating he was in possession of a knife.

Solicitor Billy Watt said the item his client “swung” at the Asda worker was a small drug pipe.

Mr Watt said: “He suffers from schizophrenia – he’s not been taking his injection.

“He knows full well that he has to do that.

“This offending is certainly in keeping with his mental health difficulties.”

‘Mighty thief’

Sheriff George Way said: “He goes to jail every couple of years.

“Crack isn’t free – he’s been stealing since 2008.

“He’s a mighty thief – not just shoplifting, it’s housebreaking, it’s all the time.

“The gaps (in offending) are caused by periods of imprisonment.”

The sheriff deferred sentencing until October 23 and added: “If he doesn’t re-engage, hell mend him.

“Be clear, you go near a can of beans that you haven’t paid for, your feet will not touch the ground.”

In 2021, Davies was jailed after staff at a Dundee B&M had to hide in a back office while he prowled the shop floor in the dead of night.

A year later, he was jailed again for breaking into B&M in East Kilbride after moving to a rehabilitation unit in Blantyre, Lanarkshire.

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