A serial offender caused damage running into thousands of pounds when he tried to remove a boiler from an empty council house in Larkhall.
David McIntosh told police officers who caught him red-handed that the property had been occupied by his nephew and he’d been told to help himself.
McIntosh, 37, a prisoner, was jailed for a year at Hamilton Sheriff Court on Friday.
He admitted a charge of malicious mischief relating to the property in Muirshot Road on January 26.
McIntosh also admitted illegal possession of a Stanley blade.
Neil Thomson, prosecuting, said the house was empty and undergoing renovation at the time.
Police got an anonymous call around 5pm that someone was acting suspiciously.
Mr Thomson told the court: “Officers attended and heard the sound of running water emanating from the house.
“They went to the back of the property and noticed it was insecure. The boiler and a number of lead pipes and brass fittings had been moved.
“Water from fractured pipes was spilling into the kitchen.
“Officers found the accused nearby. He was arrested and searched. In his trouser pocket was an uncapped Stanley blade.”
Mr Thomson said South Lanarkshire Council estimated the damage to the heating system and pipes amounted to £5040.
Ian Scott, defending, said that, when arrested, McIntosh told the police: “This is my nephew’s house and I’m just taking the boiler.”
The solicitor added: “He had been released from prison a couple of months before and found himself in dire financial straits.
“He was told by family members that this property was empty and it had a working boiler that he could have.
“But, of course, it was not his to take. He was, effectively, taking a chance he felt he’d been given.”
Mr Scott admitted McIntosh has a record for crimes of dishonesty and the use of weapons, but insisted the only reason he had a blade on this occasion was to remove the boiler.
Sheriff Alasdair MacFadyen said he was prepared to give McIntosh the benefit of the doubt in relation to the blade and limit the sentence accordingly.
He told the accused: “It has to be a custodial sentence. This was a planned crime with fairly predictable consequences.
“I would have liked to make a compensation order, but I don’t see any realistic prospect of it being met.”
