Drunk man ‘petted’ stolen CCTV camera

A police officer has told Londonderry Magistrates Court that a man who stole a CCTV camera from a house was so drunk he was later spotted petting it on the ground. 24-year-old Peter Morrison from Heron Way in the city, was found guilty of ripping the camera off a wall.

The court was told the house owner saw the incident on his monitor. He drove after Morrison and caught up with him outside a local supermarket. It was there he saw him petting the CCTV camera on the ground. The house owner detained Morrison and contacted the police.



After he was arrested Morrison told the police he was so drunk he could remember nothing about the incident. A defence solicitor acting for Morrison said his client was highy intoxicated at the time of the theft, describing it as a “highly opportunistic”.

“He saw the camera and thought he would have a bit of fun,” the solicitor said, using the example of Morrison petting the camera as an indicator of his client’s frame of mind at the time of the offence. He said Morrison had felt great shame and remorse about his “bizarre behaviour”. Morrison, who admitted committing the theft and criminal damage offences, was fined £180 and ordered to pay compensation of £120.