A DUNFERMLINE man sneaked into a house and stole a woman’s handbag when she was still in the property.

In the dock at Dunfermline Sheriff Court was 40-year-old Ian Porterfield, formerly of Nith Street, but currently in jail.

He admitted that on February 18, at an address in Dunfermline, he stole a handbag, purse, credit card and perfume by entering her house through an unlocked door.

Depute fiscal Dev Kapadia said the householder had seen a post about Porterfield on Facebook, “highlighting his movements”.

At 6pm, the man left his home to go to a shop, leaving the back door unlocked.

His partner then saw Porterfield walk past the kitchen window.

When the man returned home, he saw a baseball cap lying at the back of his house.

He then found the handbag and other items were missing. He posted on Facebook saying he thought his house “had been done”.

After this post, Porterfield was then confronted by another man who told him to empty his pockets and the stolen items were found.

Defence solicitor James Moncrieff admitted his client had a “bad record”.

Sheriff James Macdonald jailed Porterfield for 196 days.