Heroin addict is jailed over bike thefts

Published on 24/01/2013 12:00

A HEROIN addict who stole thousands of pounds worth of mountain bikes to feed his 
£70-a-day habit has been jailed for 14 months.

Neil Farquahar, 28, took six bikes worth a total of £3730 over three months. None of the bikes have been recovered.

The thefts took place at the Commonwealth Pool and in Lorne Street, Falcon Avenue, Giles Street, Nicolson Square and Madeira Street.

Farquahar, a prisoner in Saughton, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to stealing the bikes, each valued at between £380 to £850, and was yesterday jailed at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

The Crown accepted his not guilty plea to three similar charges.

Defence solicitor Murray Robertson told Sheriff James Scott the money his client received for the bikes had been spent on heroin and asked that a drug treatment and testing order be given out.

Sentencing Farquahar, Sheriff Scott told him: “The court has to bear in mind, not only your position, but the position of other people in the community, who deserve to be ­protected.”