Two years jail for Fife High Street store break-in

A thief, who broke into a High Street store and stole thousands of cigarettes, has been jailed for two years.

Richard Lowe (46), targeted a shop in Cowdenbeath in the early hours of the morning.

Lowe appeared from custody at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

He admitted that on 21st January he broke into the Semichem shop premises at High Street, Cowdenbeath and stole a large quantity of cigarettes and a quantity of fragrances.

Depute fiscal Claire Bremner told the court that the shop manager had secured the premises at 5.30pm the day before.

At 1.30am an alarm was activated which led to police officers, a security officer and the store manager attending the scene.

It was discovered that the back window of the shop was smashed and the manager confirmed that items were missing.

Ms Bremner said the exact amount of goods stolen was not established but it was estimated the figure was around 200 packets of cigarettes.

The court heard that Lowe originally had a drinking problem then turned to gambling before becoming a heroin addict.

Sheriff Craig McSherry told Lowe it was his second break-in offence and custody was the only appropriate sentence. He jailed Lowe for 24 months, backdated to 30th January when he was taken into custody.