Hapless thief raided Arbroath chip shop and pub for £3 in coppers

A hapless thief was caught on camera stealing an Arbroath fish and chip shop’s till, which contained only £3 in coppers.

Rowan Connor later smashed his way into a pub before stealing electric toothbrushes and razor blades worth hundreds of pounds from two shops.

Pre-sentencing reports have been ordered after the 36-year-old pled guilty to numerous offences in Arbroath in January this year.

Chip shop raid

Dundee Sheriff Court was told how Connor was seen running with the till from the Golden Haddock on High Street.

At around 8.30pm on the day in question, the owner of the shop closed and left £3 of copper coins in the till drawer.

Prosecutor Joanne Ritchie said a witness walking down the road at around 2.30am heard a noise and glass smashing.

“They saw the accused with an item in his hand and ran in the direction of the beach before making his way towards Seagate,” she said.

“Police attended the shop and found two windows smashed and the till drawer stolen.

“A member of the public found the till in the Newgate area… lying in an alley.”

Further thievery

Almost a week later, Connor was captured on CCTV forcing entry to The Old Brewhouse, smashing a window before trying to prise open the cash register drawer but left empty-handed.

The Old Brewhouse is owned by Paula Batard and The Golden Haddock by her former husband, Claude Batard.

They spoke of their devastation after the raids.

The court heard how Connor turned his attention to the town’s Superdrug store and placed electric toothbrushes in a Lidl bag he was carrying.

A member of staff grabbed hold of the crook but she was pushed in a struggle with him.

The bag burst and the items fell to the ground and Connor fled.

Razor blades worth £231 were also stolen by Connor from Morrisons but these were recovered at a later date.

When arrested, Connor made various responses to police in relation to the charges.

These included: “I never done that”, “it wasn’t me”, “sorry” and “I need to steal, I’m due drug dealers money”.

Connor, a prisoner at HMP Glenochil, pled guilty to committing the offences between January 21 and 27.

Sheriff George Way deferred sentence on Connor until next month for a social work report to be prepared.

For more local court content visit our page or join us on Facebook.