Addict steals whisky and Cognac from clergyman

A career criminal who stole valuable whisky and Cognac from one of Scotland’s most senior clergymen has been handed a two and a half year prison term.

A thief who ransacked the private Cognac and whisky collection of a senior clergyman has been jailed

Glasgow’s Perth Sheriff Court was told yesterday that drug addict Simon Winks broke into the isolated house of The Right Reverend Monsignor Hugh McInally and stole his collection of whisky and Cognac worth hundreds of pounds.

As reported in STV News, Winks selected the 80-year-old cleric’s Perthshire home at random.

Anne Johnston, defending, said: “He did not choose to go out of Dundee and did not know the owner of this property was a clergyman. It was a random home that he chose to go into.

“He has felt worse about it since he discovered it was a man of the cloth and someone who devotes his life to others through the church.”

Winks was discovered after a dog-walker reported damage to the cleric’s front door.

Officers found the house had been ransacked with an estimated £800 worth of damage, while about £500 of alcohol had been lifted.

Winks, who was also placed on a supervision order for a further 12 months following his release from prison, had been jailed 24 times previously.