Thief Left his Phone at House

A bungling housebreaker who left his mobile phone behind when he broke into a house has been jailed for more than three years. Duncan Welsh, 29, admitted a string of housebreakings and stealing items including a car, machinery and cash. But the dopey robber dropped his phone during one of his raids which was traced back to him. The dad-of-three also left blood at the scene of one of his crimes which lead to him. Welsh pled guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to breaking into two houses and a car garage and attempting to break into a commercial premises in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, between December 29, 2013 and January 20, this year. Sheriff Kenneth Mitchell sentenced him to a total of 163 weeks in jail for his crimes. The court heard Welsh removed the facing on the porch door and smashed the lock on it ,at a house on Johnston Drive, Rutherglen. He took car keys, mobile phones, cash, bank cards and the fob to the garage door. The homeowner was asleep and wasn't aware of anything until they got up the following day and saw the damage to the door - and that their Mazda car was gone. Procurator fiscal depute Ruth Ross-Davie said the goods taken from the house were on the garage floor except the £200 cash and the car keys. She said the value of the stolen car and cash is £6,072. Days later Welsh broke into DP Motors' car garage on Cathcart Place in the town and stole a diagnostic machine and tools worth a total of £4,988. CCTV captured the housebreaker using a ladder to get up to a window and smashing it to get inside the building. Welsh then attempted to break in to J Smith Toys and Games on Alleysbank Road with intent to steal. On January 9, the owner saw a smashed window and noticed footprints on the bonnet of a car parked outside it. There was nothing disturbed or missing but the police were called and they spotted two small droplets of blood on the bonnet of the car, which turned out to be Welsh's blood. The last housebreaking offence was on January 20 at Avonbank Road when Welsh stole cans of beer. Miss Ross-Davie said the homeowner left his house around 7.30pm and returned around 11.30pm to find his kitchen window smashed. Nothing was missing except some cans and he saw a mobile phone in the kitchen sink and called the police. The prosecutor added: "They seized the mobile telephone that in due course was identified as belonging to Duncan Welsh."