A SERIAL thief has spent the last five months in custody after he was caught breaking into an Edinburgh home and stealing an umbrella.

Craig Douglas was seen pacing up and down outside the property at Rothesay Terrace before he broke into the basement home last October.

Douglas spent about five minutes inside the flat before a neighbour filmed him leaving the home while carrying a green umbrella with white writing.

Douglas, who was wearing a high-vis vest at the time, then opened the brolly and walked off down the street with it.

The neighbour called in the police and officers discovered Douglas and the discarded umbrella nearby soon after.

The 26-year-old’s lawyer Jonathan Campbell said that his client had “a long record for dishonesty”, mainly due to trying to fund his long-standing drug habit.

Mr Campbell said that the break-in had been “opportunistic and impulsive” and ultimately it had been “bizarre” as the stolen item had no value to it.

The solicitor added that Douglas had spent five months in custody, the equivalent of a 10-month prison sentence, and that he wanted to change his lifestyle due to his young daughter.

Mr Campbell said: “He recognises he has been a poor father and if he continues down this path he will deprive his daughter of a father figure.”

Douglas, who appeared via a video link from HMP Edinburgh, told the court that he needed “to address my drug problem as I am stuck in limbo” and asked for a chance to prove himself.

Sheriff Nigel Ross said that Douglas had “a bad record for housebreaking” and the thief had left “a lot of destruction” in his wake while carrying out numerous thefts in the past.

The sheriff agreed to release Douglas on bail to his mother’s home in Musselburgh and deferred sentence to later this month for the preparation of a drug treatment and testing order assessment.

He was also placed on a home curfew to stay within his mother’s home between 8pm and 7am and not to enter Rothesay Terrace in Edinburgh.

Sheriff Ross added that any breach of his court order would see a prison sentence of “years not months” handed down to Douglas.

Douglas admitted to breaking into a home and stealing an umbrella at Rothesay Terrace on October 3 last year.