Accused lied about tragedy

Jailed for thefts and causing damage to cell

A MAN claimed in court he turned to theft to get travel cash desperately needed to get him home urgently after learning his mother had been killed in a car crash and other members of his family in Newcastle had been injured. But the story was a lie..
David Francis (29) admitted a series of thefts in the town which occurred on December 18. These included snatching £330 from a taxi, Wick Sheriff Court was told. Francis also pleaded guilty to causing damage at Wick police station and abusive behaviour there.
Francis, whose home address then was given as 44 Stockfield Avenue, Newcastle, told the court about the car crash at an earlier appearance at the court but before he was remanded, he quickly admitted he had made it all up.
When he appeared for sentence, yesterday, Fiona MacDonald said that Francis had travelled from Shetland to Orkney after losing jobs, then onto Caithness where he committed the offences. The solicitor said that the theft of the taxi takings had been "a cry for help".
She added that the accused had "lost control of himself" in the police cell where he had defecated on blankets. Specialist cleaners had to brought in, to put the cell back in order.
Sheriff Andrew Berry described the fabricated story Francis had given to the court, as "truly shocking" and jailed him for four months, backdated to his remand. The court heard that he would be living in Bishop Auckland, after his release.