A BALLINGRY man broke into the home of a neighbour who had died three days earlier.

Drug addict Thomas Currie then began emptying the contents of the house, including jewellery, a wheelchair and a generator before the police arrived.

Currie, 52, of Kirkland Avenue, appeared for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

He previously admitted that on September 17 he broke into a vacant property owned by a man, now deceased, in Kirkland Avenue.

He stole a quantity of garden equipment, a wheelchair, a generator, a wallet containing £135 and bank cards, a quantity of jewellery, a mobile telephone, collectable coins and a sum of money.

Depute fiscal Andrew Brown said Currie knew the man and had previously been paid to cut his grass when he was ill.

The man had passed away on September 14 and his body was found by police who broke in over welfare concerns. They secured the property and contacted the man’s next of kin.

On September 17 at around 11pm, a local resident heard a number of loud bangs and when this continued, he went out to investigate.

He looked through his fence and spotted two figures behind the deceased man’s home. French doors had been opened up and items had been removed on to decking,

The two thieves were trying to remove a power generator at the time the neighbour was looking and he called 999.

Just after midnight, officers arrived and found a crow bar lying on the ground alongside items that had been removed from the house.

Defence solicitor Stephen Morrison said: “He could not be any more embarrassed and ashamed.”

He said his client had been “a respected member of his community” but he had been made aware “this behaviour is of the lowest order”.

The solicitor went on: "His recollection of it is not particularly good."

He said his client was under influence of substances at the time.

He added that Currie was now receiving support for his drug addiction and his shame about the offence was “acute”.

Sheriff Susan Duff asked Currie how he would feel if someone stole jewellery and other property from one of his deceased relatives.

She described the offence as “terrible” but decided not to jail him.

Instead, she imposed a community payback order with two years of supervision and 160 hours of unpaid work.