A MAN is awaiting sentence after breaking into a holiday home on Arran before going on a booze binge.

A court heard Liam Nelson was caught by his own father, who had then tried to repair the damage and offered to pay for what his son had done.

Nelson also pleaded guilty to two breaches of bail - one of them committed just a few hours after he made his first appearance in court in connection with the incident.

Kilmarnock Sheriff Court was told Nelson had been within his father's home next door on the night of April 30, and that his father went to bed at around 9pm, leaving Nelson alone in the lounge.

The procurator fiscal depute said Nelson's father went to his outhouse to smoke in the early hours of May 1, and noticed a bottle of gin and a lock safe lying on the ground which he knew weren't his.

He then noticed the neighbouring property looked occupied, but knew that the owners were on the mainland.

 

On closer inspection, he noticed smashed windows in the kitchen and bathroom, and on climbing through one of them, spotted Nelson - intoxicated to the point that he could not be moved.

Nelson's father then went back to the property at a later date, after his son had returned home, and tried to clean up the property and replace bottles of alcohol. 

But he was unable to repair all the damage, the broken windows in particular, and left a note for the owners.

 

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The fiscal depute said the property's owners returned to Arran on May 5 and when they arrived home noticed the damage, the missing lock safe and a cabinet with bottles of alcohol missing. 

It also appeared that food had been taken from the kitchen cabinets.

After seeing the note, the pair contacted Nelson's father, who told them what happened and offered to pay for the damage.

However, the couple then contacted police, who arrested Nelson the following day.

The court was told that the pair had been left feeling "numb and violated" following the incident.

The damage caused was valued at £250 for the broken windows, another £250 for the stolen alcohol, £15 for the lock safe, and £5 for the food.

The first bail breach came after Nelson was granted bail at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court on May 16 with a condition requiring him to stay within a bail address in Brodick between 7pm and 7am.

But at 10.30pm that same day, police were called to a report of a drunken male on St Andrews Street in Kilmarnock - and discovered it was Nelson.

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The second bail breach came at 8pm on July 13, after an electronic tag registered that Nelson was not within his Brodick bail address.

Police went to the property and confirmed Nelson was not at home; he was later found elsewhere in Brodick, and told police he had been drinking at the pub.

He was arrested and taken to Lamlash police office.

Brian Holliman, defending, said Nelson accepted he had "a significant alcohol problem", and had been taking steps to tackle it, including admitting himself to a three-week detox in September last year.

He said Nelson also had previous convictions from 2022 with "directly analogous circumstances" to those in the housebreaking charge.

Mr Holliman said his client would not be returning to Arran if he were released on bail, as this would "not be a good idea".

But Sheriff Murdoch Mactaggart opted remand Nelson in custody and to defer sentence for background reports.

The sheriff told Nelson: "I am not closing my mind to a community-based disposal."