A THIEF who broke into a Musselburgh car wash and stole cash and sets of keys was caught out when he left a crowbar behind containing his DNA.

Andrew Moffat smashed a side office window at the Sunny Car Wash on Pinkie Road and made off with a till containing £100 and three sets of keys.

Moffat, who appeared in court from custody as he is currently serving a 32-month sentence at HMP Edinburgh for housebreaking, was caught on CCTV but could not be identified by the images.

But after the owner of the car wash business had discovered the break-in in January last year, he found a crowbar which had been left behind on the floor by the crook.

A subsequent DNA test revealed that Moffat had been in possession of the implement and he was arrested and charged soon after.

Fiscal depute Kim Schofield told the court that the owner of the business turned up for work at about 8.30am on January 6 last year.

He spotted that an office window had been smashed and the till and keys were missing. He checked the CCTV and saw Moffat entering through the smashed window and attempting to lever open the till with the crowbar.

After several unsuccessful attempts, Moffat gave up and decided just to take the till away with him, leaving the crowbar lying on the floor.

Ms Schofield added that Moffat had been jailed for 32 months on housebreaking charges at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on March 8 this year.

Defence solicitor Colm Dempsey said that his client had carried out the car wash theft around the same time as the previous housebreakings and that this case should have been dealt with alongside them.

Mr Dempsey said the crime had been “an unsophisticated offence in that he left the implement at the locus” before fleeing with the till.

The lawyer added that 39-year-old Moffat had been using drugs at the time but was now clean and had posted negative drug test results while inside jail.

Sheriff Norman MacFadyen agreed that the case could have been dealt with alongside the housebreaking offences and sentenced Moffat to a concurrent 12-month prison sentence.

Moffat pleaded guilty to breaking into the Sunny Car Wash in Musselburgh and stealing a till containing £100 and three sets of keys on January 6 last year.