Terrified OAP called 999 as neighbour tried to break into her home
A Fife drug addict tried to break into the home of a 69-year-old former neighbour as she slept, in the early hours of the morning.
The terrified woman heard banging against her front door at 4am and phoned 999 from her bed.
John Mackie (42) had spent the night trying to break into cars in the streets of Kirkcaldy.
He was tracked down because he took his ex-partner’s dog with him and had left a trail of blood on the cars.
Mackie, a prisoner at Perth, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court, where he admitted a string of offences on his crime spree.
On 6th or 7th February at Lomond Gardens, Kirkcaldy, he attempted to open doors of two cars with intent to steal.
He also committed two similar offences in Pentland Place.
He then entered an insecure car in Benarty Street and stole a quantity of coins.
On 7th February he attempted to force open the doors of a dwelling house in Massereene Road, Kirkcaldy, with intent to steal.
Depute fiscal Sarah Lumsden said that at around 1.20am said a woman heard noises from outside her home.
She checked her mobile phone which showed live video from CCTV outside her home. She saw a male get into her vehicle, which she had forgotten to lock.
The woman opened her window and shouted at the thief, who then ran off followed by a black Labradoodle type dog.
At 4.20am the 69-year-old woman was in her bed when she woke up to the loud sound of banging. She called police and they found a screw driver next to the front door which Mackie had tried to force open unsuccessfully.
Officers also found the black dog in the garden and inquiries revealed it was owned by Mackie’s former partner.
When they went to her home they found Mackie lying in bed covered in blood.
The house he had tried to break into was just across the road and the woman had been a neighbour of his for years.
Defence solicitor Christine Hagan said her client had split up from his partner, became homeless and relapsed into substance abuse. On this day he had taken tablets and had “very little recollection” of the offences.
Sheriff Charles MacNair, “This was a significant number of offences including an attempt to break into a woman’s house and you have a bad record of similar offending.”
He jailed Mackie for 18 months backdated to 8th February when he was taken into custody.