A thief who was caught on camera brazenly stealing a till from a north-east sweet shop has been jailed.
John McCormick, 29, targeted Bon Bon on Peterhead’s Queen Street as well as hair salon Room Seven on Rose Street in June this year.
The 29-year-old stole hair styling tools, a till and cash during the two raids.
McCormick, a prisoner of HMP Grampian, was caught after Fiona Chalmers, the owner of Bon Bon, posted CCTV of the crime on Facebook.
He appeared yesterday at Aberdeen Sheriff Court for sentencing having previously pled guilty to breaking in and stealing a quantity of electrical items from the hairdressers on June 7 and a till and quantity of cash from the sweet shop on June 8.
Sheriff William Summers ordered McCormick to be jailed for 18 months.
Reacting to the sentence, Ms Chalmers said: “He’ll be out in a year and do it again, he’s a repeat offender.
“I’m glad he was jailed, but he wasn’t jailed because he broke into our shop, it’s because every time he gets out of jail he does the same thing.
“I don’t really know what the solution is.”
Fiscal depute Colin Neilson previously told the court at around 6pm the salon owner locked the door and left for the night.
He said at around 11pm a member of the public went to Peterhead police station to report that someone had broken into the salon.
Mr Neilson said two hair dryers, curling tongs and straighteners worth around £220 had been taken from the main reception desk.
In the second incident, which happened just a day later, a sweet shop was targeted with the owner being contacted by another shopkeeper about a broken window.
Mr Neilson said coins were strewn all over the floor and the till had also been taken.
He said the till was traced in a nearby lane but there was £100 missing from it.
Defence agent Sam Milligan said his client had been assaulted prior to the break-ins, which had triggered “unpleasant recollections” for him which were detailed in a criminal justice social work report.
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