Burglar orderedto compensate former Celt Tosh

Jun 11 2009 by Alastair McNeill, Hamilton Advertiser

A LANARKSHIRE teenager who broke into the house of an ex-Celtic footballer and stole booze was this week ordered to pay him and his wife £300 in compensation.

Thomas Strachan (18), of Fourth Street, Viewpark, had admitted stealing the alcohol during a raid on Tosh McKinlay’s Bothwell home between April 11 and 13 last year.

At Hamilton Sheriff Court on Tuesday, he was also placed on a Restriction of Liberty Order for three months, confining him to his home seven days a week between 7pm and 7am.

The incident took place while 43-year-old Mr McKinlay and his wife Yvonne (41) were away for the weekend. Co-accused David Hillan (17), of Wordsworth Way, Bothwell - who also admitted breaking into the house and stealing the booze - had his sentence deferred until July 21 for a psychiatric assessment and advice from the children’s panel. Sheriff Ray Small continued his bail meantime.

A third accused, Callum Haddow, of Killermont Meadows, Bothwell, who had admitted reset of the drink, was also ordered to pay the McKinlays compensation of £100 and fined £200.

When Strachan and Hillan appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court last month, however, they denied stealing the former defender’s Scottish Cup winner’s medal. It had disappeared along with a variety of items which included jewellery, watches, a DVD player, cameras, clothes, three iPods and shoes.

The pair’s not guilty pleas to the charge were accepted by the Crown.

The total of cost of the items that disappeared was estimated at £20,000. However, none of the goods was recovered.

Strachan and Hillan had been told by a former boyfriend of Mr McKinlay’s daughter Nicole that the family were away for a weekend break in England.

Hillan and Strachan were joined by another person unknown to the Crown.

Police investigations failed to solve the crime. However, Haddow turned up at the McKinlays’ home four months later and confessed to his involvement in the matter and all three accused were later arrested.