A homeless thief was caught sleeping on the couch of an Airbnb flat with a stolen iron in his rucksack.
Jacek Turek, 26, broke into the property on High Street on July 2 so he and a friend could have a place to stay for the night.
He was caught after a glazier attended the property to fix an already broken window.
Prosecutor Jenna Grattan told Dundee Sheriff Court: “The flat is fully-furnished and let out via Airbnb.
© DC Thomson
“At the time of the offence it was not occupied by paying guests.
On July 1 the owner of the property attended to check that everything was in order. He noticed no damage and all the items were still within.
On July 2 the complainer again attended after receiving a call from a workman in relation to a cracked window in the living room.
“During the call, it was revealed two men, one of which was the accused, were lying on the couch sleeping.”
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Police were contacted and officers searched Turek.
A Morphy Richards iron was recovered from his rucksack with the owner of the property immediately identifying this as belonging to him.
Turek, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to breaking into the property and stealing an iron.
Defence solicitor David Duncan said the principal motivation behind the offence was to receive shelter.
He said: “He was homeless in the true sense of the word at the time this offence was committed.
“He was sleeping when the police arrived.”
Turek initially appeared from custody but was granted bail before being ordered to return to court yesterday.
Following his appearance in the dock, Sheriff John Rafferty deferred sentence on Turek until next month in order to obtain criminal justice social work reports.
