A crack cocaine addict stole a charge nurse’s car from hospital while she was treating patients during an extraordinary 60-day crime spree.
John Forbes also nicked charity cash, robbed several homes and stole other cars as he averaged one crime every 40 hours throughout the eight-week period.
Forbes, 42, admitted 36 crimes when he appeared in the dock at Dundee Sheriff Court. It is understood he had been investigated in connection with more than 80 offences during the period between May 20 and July 18 last year.
But prosecutor Lynn Mannion praised Forbes, from Dundee, for holding his hands up to accept his guilt for 36 offences across various parts of Scotland.
She told the court: “The accused has saved the Crown a lot of work by negotiating pleas at the earliest opportunity.”
Forbes’ spree started on May 20 when he snatched a staff member’s bag in a care home and used their keys to steal their Nissan Micra.
Banned driver Forbes then stole a Vauxhall Corsa in Dundee less than 48 hours later and stole a laptop during a sneak-in theft in Forfar. The stolen Corsa was then spotted in Dumfries on May 24 and Forbes was arrested.
He appeared in court but was released again on bail. On June 5, he jemmied open a locked filing cabinet inside Dundee City Church, and three days later stole charity boxes from a vet practice in the city.
On July 9, Forbes sneaked into Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital and stole a charge nurse’s £21,000 Toyota CHR while she was on shift. The following day, Forbes broke into a 91-year-old woman’s home in St Andrews, Fife.
And, six days before his final crime on July 18, he was caught red-handed in another home but managed to escape after persuading the owners that he had mistaken it for B&B.
Solicitor Jim Laverty, defending, told the court his client was a talented artist who had a crack cocaine addiction.
He added: “He accepts custody is inevitable. He is apologetic and ashamed.”
Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown deferred sentence on Forbes for background reports and he was remanded in custody.
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