A DUMBARTON man who stole copper piping from a flat in the same block as his own home has been spared jail.

Craig Montague carried out the theft after he broke into the council-owned property in Westcliff on March 25 last year.

Montague, 46, appeared for sentencing at the town’s sheriff court on Friday after pleading guilty to the charge at an earlier hearing, when sentence was deferred for a social work report.

The sheriff at that earlier hearing had also asked for information about the value of the copper piping and the cost of repairs to the property which Montague broke into, but fiscal depute Emma Thomson told the court on Friday that according to West Dunbartonshire Council it was not possible to break down the financial consequences to such a detailed level.

Montague’s solicitor, Gerry Lee, said the copper piping stolen had been found within a plastic bag in Montague’s flat.

Mr Lee said the social work report on his client was a positive one, and pointed out that Montague had voluntarily attended a training course aimed at preparing him for work.

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry told Montague: “I’m prepared to give you an opportunity to comply with a community payback order. But if you breach it I will impose a sentence that will be less lenient than this one.”Montague was placed Montague under social work supervision for a year and ordered him to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work within six months.