Men convicted after breaking into Midlothian pensioner's house in search for drugs
The pair appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court earlier.
Two masked thugs, who smashed their way into the home of a 76 year old woman in the middle of the night, looking for drugs, were quickly tracked down after one of them dropped his mobile phone outside the house.
At Edinburgh Sheriff Court today (Aug 4th) 22 year old Jay Potter from Glasgow, and 25 year old Steven Wylie from Bonnyrigg, pled guilty to breaking into the woman's home in Straiton, Midlothian, on August 7 last year.
Fiscal Depute, Aidan Higgins, told Sheriff Michael O'Grady QC that the pensioner lived in a mobile home and static caravan park and that she had lived there for 12 years.
The two accused, he said, had been involved in a dispute with others in the Midlothian area over controlled drugs and had received information that drugs, at the centre of the dispute, had been hidden in her home.
Mr Higgins said a young male relation of the woman had, without her knowledge, hidden the drugs in a bread bin in the kitchen. Potter and Wylie did not know she lived there.
At around 2 am, the woman was wakened by thumping noises outside and her dog barking. She was checking her house, when she looked out a window and saw a hooded figure walking past her gate.
The Fiscal said: "She considered calling the police, but decided not to when she saw the figure walking away and she made herself a cup of tea to calm her nerves".
About 20 minutes later, the pensioner heard further noises outside and saw two figures near her home.
"A few seconds later, one of the accused used a glass bottle to break one of the living room windows, after which a plant pot was thrown through one of the glass doors leading into the living room" said Mr Higgins.
"As the window and door smashed, the victim ran into the kitchen. The two accused entered her home, wearing hooded tops with the hoods pulled tight across their faces and were shouting".
The men began searching the house, added the Fiscal, and the woman seeing a chance to escape, picked up her dog and ran out in her nightclothes, shouting on her neighbours for help.
The 76 year old and a neighbour returned to the house a few minutes later and found that the raiders had left and her home was in a state of disorder. The bread bin and her mobile phone had been taken.
Mr Higgins said the police found a mobile phone that had been dropped outside the house and that led them to Potter and further investigation led to the arrest of the two men.
The Fiscal said the elderly woman told the police: "I've always felt safe around here and I don't think I'll ever feel safe again. I'm not sure if I can sleep in my house again".
He added that she had lived with her daughter for a time, but suffered from panic attacks and was prescribed sleeping tablets. She had now returned to her home, but only after iron bars had been fitted over her windows.
Sheriff O'Grady deferred sentence on the two men for background reports and remanded them in custody.