The driver in a £30,000 raid on a family home near Melrose was this week jailed for 20 months.
Jon Renton was paid £200 for his part in the robbery, having driven his accomplices to the secluded property where they spent four hours stealing shotguns, ammunition and jewellery.
Renton, described as a vulnerable and easily manipulated individual, was said to have only become aware of the plan en route.
The 20-year-old, of Foulden, Berwickshire, appeared on indictment and admitted, while acting with others, breaking into the house between May 25 and May 28 last year, and stealing property worth £30,000. He committed the offence while on bail.
Prosecuting at Selkirk Sheriff Court on Monday, Tessa Bradley described the property as “a large private house in a relatively isolated rural location” which was targeted while the owners were on holiday. The alarm was raised by a cleaner, who noticed a door had been left open and then found drawers had been disturbed and the gun cupboard forced.
“Five shotguns were missing from two secure cabinets, using a true key which was hidden in the kitchen,” said Ms Bradley.
The accused contacted police in June, claiming he had been threatened and naming another individual for the housebreaking.
“He said he had been involved in the theft and also in the sale of some of the stolen jewellery,” added Ms Bradley.
Enquiries led police to two shops in Edinburgh where some £500 worth of the stolen jewellery was recovered.
“He admitted he had been at the house with others, and said that he was the driver and had stayed outside, and four hours later they came out carrying five or six shotguns, ammunition, bottles of champagne and a quantity of jewellery,” said the prosecutor.
She added: “He said the items were put into another car which was then driven away.”
Renton’s lawyer, Matt Patrick, said his client had been approached by others and asked to drive them to the house at a particular time.
“He agreed to do so for financial gain. He essentially drove them there, but did not enter the property himself.
“He knew it had to be for some nefarious purpose, but he only became aware of the precise nature of the operation on the way there,” said Mr Patrick.
“He deposited them and met up with them later on. The bulk of the items were placed in another vehicle and driven off by someone else,” added the lawyer.
After being approached by one of the gang members, Renton then drove to Edinburgh where some of the jewellery was sold.
Mr Patrick said Renton received £200 for his “assistance”.
He added: “It is significant he was not acting alone. He was by no means the brains of the situation and is someone easily manipulated.”
Renton also appeared on a further indictment, pleading guilty to having an imitation firearm at Main Street, Leitholm, on October 9, 2011. He also admitted culpably and recklessly striking and damaging a gas box and meter, and a JCB forklift with a sledge hammer.
Renton further admitted having an imitation firearm, intending four others to believe unlawful violence would be used against them, and brandishing a sledgehammer and imitation firearm at others.
Ms Bradley told how Renton was angered by a neighbour removing a boundary hedge.
“He went to his bedroom and got a BB gun, and then picked up a sledgehammer from the garden shed on his way out,” said Ms Bradley.
Renton struck a gas meter several times with the sledgehammer.
A woman and her son were alarmed to see he was holding a “gun” which he pointed at the woman, shouting at her: “Get out of here, or I’m going to get the Hawick boys down”.
Ms Bradley went on: “She ushered her son, who was very upset, inside.”
The accused walked to the back of the houses where two men were working on the hedge and pointed the gun at them, telling them to “switch the f*****g forklift off”.
“It has since been established it was an imitation gun, but witnesses didn’t know that,” added Ms Bradley.
She described it as a Chinese-manufactured plastic soft air pistol, modelled on an American Colt, adding: “It had been painted black and was in working order, although the magazine was empty.”
Ms Bradley said Renton had caused £600 worth of damage to the forklift, which he hit with the sledgehammer.
A friend encouraged him to hand himself in to police after he confided what he had done.
“He said he had had enough of the village and had flipped, and that he had smashed a forklift window and pointed a gun at five folk,” said the prosecutor.
Mr Patrick said the gun had been given to Renton some months before and was already coloured black when he received it, adding: “It would fire plastic ball bearings, but was not loaded. He says that he had it to shoot vermin.”
The solicitor explained that Renton had “ongoing difficulties with the neighbours” and on this occasion “completely lost the head”.
Mr Patrick went on: “There was no planning. It was impulsive and out of proportion. He has shown remorse and victim empathy”.
The court heard that Renton had taken steps to deal with his anger management issues.
Renton also admitted, with others, stealing £175 worth of diesel from a vehicle at Recycling Plant, Riverside Road, Selkirk, on April 15/16 last year; being found at Oregon Timber, Dunsdale Road, Selkirk, in suspicious circumstances; and stealing £200 worth of diesel from a vehicle at J & D Kerr, Rogers Road, Selkirk. He also pleaded guilty to stealing tyres and wheels at Bowhill Estate, Selkirk, on May 11.