A DUNFERMLINE man has been jailed after he was caught stealing bank cards and cash from staff at a town centre restaurant.

Andrew Dempster, 38, was spotted rummaging through coat pockets in the kitchen area of the Retro restaurant and the missing items were later recovered from his room at the James Bank Hostel.

Appearing for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court on Wednesday, he had previously admitted that on August 11 this year, he stole a quantity of papers, bank cards, store cards and money from Retro in Carnegie Drive.

He also admitted that on various occasions on June 25 this year, at a house in Law Road, he behaved in a threatening or abusive manner which was likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm when he shouted, swore, seized a table, causing damage to it, threw items around, punched doors and walls, caused damage to the doors and acted in an aggressive manner.

The following day, he also behaved in a threatening or abusive manner at the same property by shouting, swearing, and acting in an aggressive manner.

He also resisted, obstructed and hindered police officers in the execution of their duty and attempted to prevent the application of handcuffs.

On July 22, 2017, at an address in Dunfermline, he also behaved in a threatening or abusive manner which was likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm when he acted in an aggressive manner towards a woman and stood in front of her in an attempt to prevent her from leaving the property.

On the same date, he assaulted the woman by repeatedly pushing her on the body.

Depute fiscal Dev Kapadia said a member of staff had gone to the kitchen area and seen Dempster going through her coat pockets.

"She immediately ran through and called her colleague who saw the accused near his jacket," he told the court. "Both of them formed the impression the accused was under the influence of alcohol or some other substance."

Solicitor Peter Robertson said his client had been taking medication at the time of the latest offence and his request that he be assessed for a drug treatment and testing order was rejected by Sheriff Charles Macnair.

He told Dempster: "You have had previous attempts at this and they have been unsuccessful. It comes to a point when it is not appropriate to continue trying such a step and, in any event, the offence of August 11 which is the only one which is drug-related, is far too serious for a drug testing and treatment order.

"It was a particularly nasty theft from somebody who was trying to earn their living. Going into commercial premises and stealing from an employee is a particularly unpleasant offence.

"You have an appalling record going back many years and I am entirely satisfied that the appropriate sentence is a custodial sentence."

Sheriff Macnair jailed him for a total of 14 months.