Jail term for addict caught mid-robbery

A DRUG addict who broke into two homes and stole TVs, jewellery and a car has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Dellroy McPhillips, 35, was snared after the owner of the second home he burgled spotted him in the act of stealing her television.

On Tuesday, Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard how Isobele Evans was returning from work to her home in the city’s Regent Street on the evening of January 24.

She spotted McPhillips helping himself to her personal belongings and rang the police, who arrested him on leaving the house. They managed to recover the TV and jewellery.

Hours earlier, McPhillips broke into another house in the city’s Brunstane Road North and helped himself to jewellery, a TV and the homeowner’s car key. He then drove the man’s car away.

McPhillips, a prisoner of HMP Saughton, pleaded guilty to two charges of housebreaking before Sheriff Kenneth Maciver. He also admitted stealing a car.

The court heard how McPhillips started taking heroin in his late 20s and became addicted to the substance.