Charity box thief could face jail

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/6290157.stm

Version 0 of 1.

A thief who stole £500 raised in memory of road crash victim Jack Anderson has been ordered to undergo a drugs test and has been warned he could face jail.

Gary Millar, 25, stole charity boxes from a shop on 15 October.

Jack, a Carrick Knowe Primary pupil, died when he was hit by a car on Edinburgh's Saughton Road North on his way home from school on 5 October.

Sentence on Millar was set for 1 March at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. Two men have been charged following the crash.

Ten-year-old Jack's mother Yvonne had worked at the shop in Saughton Road North for about 10 years.

"We wanted to do something for Yvonne and her family," Spar manageress Susan Pigott said.

Luckily we had most of the money in the safe and were eventually able to give the family a cheque for £1,750 Susan PigottSpar manageress

"There was a lot of hurt and anger in the community over what happened.

"Luckily we had most of the money in the safe and were eventually able to give the family a cheque for £1,750."

Sheriff James Scott warned Millar, of John's Place, that he could face jail. He was released from custody so that the drugs assessment could be carried out.

The sheriff said: "This is on the understanding that all options remain open."

'Too late'

Defence agent Ross Gardner said: "He accepts it was entirely wrong to take the charity boxes and it was an extremely mean offence. It was done solely to feed a drug addiction.

"He did apologise when interviewed by the police but it was too little too late."

Millar, who insisted he had not realised the boxes were for the Anderson family when he grabbed them, was traced through CCTV footage and arrested later the same day.

He then stole £1,300 worth of cameras from a locked cabinet at a Sainsbury supermarket in Cameron Toll shopping centre.

He got into a car with his partner Ann Marie Harvey, 22, who on the same day stole £390 worth of computer games from a Tesco shop in Colinton Mains.

Millar admitted stealing the charity boxes, seven cameras, driving while disqualified and without insurance - all on 15 October, last year.

Patrick Nolan and Michael Purcell, both 19, have appeared in court charged with culpable homicide following the fatal road crash.