Man stole thousands from charities and businesses in St Andrews

A St Andrews man who stole thousands of pounds in a string of break-ins at charities and shops has to wait until August to learn his fate.

Kevin Ritchie targeted business premises in the town over the course of 11 months – making off with a total of £7254 from 13 break-ins.

Ritchie (38), of South Street, pleaded guilty on indictment to 13 charges of housebreaking.

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In one callous crime he targeted the Imperial Cancer Research shop making off with £560.70.

That came just days after he had hit the nearby Save the Children shop, taking £40.

Ritchie’s spree started in April 2014 when he broke in to the St Andrews Laundry Service in Woodburn Terrace stealing £100 cash and a digital CCTV recorder.

Then that July he entered Eve Brown Property Management in Hope Street stealing £1522 in cash.

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The following month he targeted Gray and Pringle in Station Road, Anstruther, stealing £1000 cash, a laptop computer and four knives.

A week later he was back in Anstruther and stole £50 from Lisa’s Ice Cream Parlour.

Two months later he carried out his biggest single crime, stealing £3400 in cash and a digital CCTV recorder from Mitchell’s Deli in St Andrews.

In December 2014 he carried out another break in, stealing £39 from a shop in Pipeland Road.

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In late January 2015 he stole £193 from the St Andrews Physiotherapy Service in Market Street.

Three weeks later he broke in to Yewtree Trading Company in North Street with intent to steal, and around the same time he targeted the Save the Children and Imperial Cancer Research shops.

He broke in to The Happy Hacker golf store in South Street and stole £130.

The following month he stole £240 cash and a laptop from The Potting Shed in South Street, before he again targeted the Yewtree in April last year, but again failed to take anything.

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Defence solicitor Douglas Williams said: “In a small area and small force it took out a significant amount of police time taken up investigating these matters.”

Sheriff Alastair Brown deferred sentence for social work background reports until August.