A Glasgow gangster was caught when his DNA was found inside two stolen motors.
Robert Daniel, 32, was jailed today after admitting nicking the two vehicles, later found abandoned.
This is the second time that DNA evidence has led to Daniel's capture within the last two years.The crime clan member was jailed for two years for supplying £16,000 of cocaine and heroin in 2020.
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The dad-of-three's fingerprints and DNA were on the Tupperware and knotted bags the drugs were found in.
He told a jury that the reason his fingerprints were on the container was because he had eaten pasta from it.
Daniel pled guilty today at Glasgow Sheriff Court to two charges of motor vehicle theft and an attempted theft.
The court heard that the offences came to light as part of Police Scotland's Operation Subterfuge.
This was an investigation into car thefts in the west of Scotland.
Daniel stole a Ford S-Max car from a property in the city's Anniesland on April 29, 2021.
A witness later saw two men changing the front plates of the vehicle in a lane.
A 999 call was made but the two men made off.
The vehicle was forensically examined by police.
Prosecutor Carrie Stevens said: "Daniel's DNA was recovered from the steering wheel, the gear stick and the handbrake of the vehicle."
A Ford Transit van was stolen on May 18 from a property in the city's Hyndland.
The same car was clocked being dropped off in the early hours of the morning at a property in Gartcosh.
Officers were able to trace Daniel's DNA from the van.
Daniel had attempted to steal a second van two days later from a property in Bearsden.
The van owner noticed that the lock had been tampered with and a cap from it was under the steering wheel.
The van's ignition barrel was also lying on the passenger's side.
DNA was taken from the barrel which was a match for Daniel.
Officers attended a car park on the River Clyde which was a known drop off point for stolen vehicles.
Daniel was spotted leaving a nearby block of flats and made off before he was apprehended.
David Kinloch, defending, told the court: "He has a number of previous convictions which don't do him any favours.
"There are only four for matters of dishonesty.
"He is a disqualified car driver which is why he has previous convictions in analogous matters."
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