A DRUG ADDICT who broke into a property in Dunfermline in broad daylight has been jailed for 28 months.

Lee McLaren was found wandering about in a nearby street with a cut hand, having been videoed by a concerned neighbour.

The woman saw him acting suspiciously behind her house and heard him breaking into the property below her, causing extensive damage.

There was no-one living there at the time and McLaren left with just a watch, a bracelet and a tin of air freshener.

The woman used her phone to take images of McLaren then contacted the police, who found him in a nearby street with a cut hand.

McLaren, 41, currently a prisoner at Perth, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

He admitted that on March 7, he broke into a house in Mill Street, Dunfermline, and stole a watch, a bracelet and a can of air freshener.

He also admitted that in Baldridgeburn, he was in possession of diamorphine.

McLaren further admitted that at Dunfermline police station, he assaulted a police officer by spitting on him.

Depute fiscal Sarah Lumsden said that, at around 1.45pm, a female saw a stranger out the back of her home.

She looked down and banged on her window. She then thought she heard the property below being entered. When she saw the man walking away, she used her mobile phone to photograph him.

She went downstairs and found the door to the flat had been badly damaged. She contacted the police and officers later tracked down the accused in a street nearby.

He matched the description given by the witness and had blood coming from a cut.

He was arrested and taken to Dunfermline police station where he became aggressive to officers when he was searched, spitting on one of them.

Defence solicitor Alexander Flett said: “He doesn’t really know what was going on at the time.”

He told the court McLaren was a drug addict who had been on a methadone prescription but had relapsed at the time of the offence.

On this day, he had taken five valium tablets and could not remember much after that.

The solicitor said it had been a stressful time for his client as he and other family members had been looking after his seriously-ill grandmother.

Sheriff Craig McSherry jailed McLaren for 28 months. He commented: “How somebody in your condition could look after his grandmother beats me.”