Break-in had a cannabis twist, court told

Ryan Heron was accused of stealing £4000, a mobile phone and a watch from Paul Quinn’s property in Tiber Avenue in December 2014.

His blood was found where he cut his arm while smashing a window. He admitted being the intruder, but denied he’d taken cash.

Heron (23), a prisoner, was found not guilty of the housebreaking charge, but jailed for eight months for failing to attend Hamilton Sheriff Court for trial in March last year.

Mr Quinn once walked free from the High Court after he was cleared of being concerned in the supply of cocaine worth nearly £40,000.

It was claimed the £4000 at the centre of the current case had been left to him by a relative who died.

Heron told the court he thought Mr Quinn was avoiding him, saying: “I trusted him to hold this for me, but he had been making excuses for two weeks.

“I was angry. I sat at his front door and phoned and texted to say I was at his house. He knew it was me who broke in. I went into his bedroom and saw a bag under a table.

“I realised it was my stuff. I didn’t steal anything. I just took what belonged to me.”