Serial thief caught raiding the Ravenscraig Hospital site pretended to police he was looking for a lost FOOTBALL

Owen Murray was going in and out of the derelict listed building when he activated motion sensor cameras and an alarm.

Greenock Sheriff Court heard how Murray said to officers who responded to the alert: "Did you find my football?"

The 22-year-old, of Berwick Road, was also caught stealing lead from a roof in the west end of the town in January.

Prosecutor Lindy Scaife said: "At 6.30am a witness walking home from work overheard a noise of something being dropped.

"The witness saw a male on the roof and moved out of sight and contacted the police.

"A piece of lead appeared to have been stripped from the corner of the roof and more lead was lying on the ground.

"Police observed the accused lowering himself from the roof, he saw the police and ran off down Robertson Street before being apprehended nearby."

Of the Ravenscraig Hospital incident, Ms Scaife said: "There have been various break-ins there for the appropriation of wire cabling and lead.

"There are motion cameras and alarms around the perimeter.

"At midday an alarm went off and police attended immediately."

Murray also smashed glass panels at a block of flats on Ann Street in June and hurled abuse and threats towards residents — then blamed his behaviour on the hot weather.

Ms Scaife said: "At 6.30am residents within Prospecthill Court were woken by a banging sound outside.

"The saw the accused using his feet and a brick to smash glass panels at the front of the building, and also heard him shouting and swearing.

"Residents asked him to leave and he responded by shouting and swearing.

"He told police, 'I haven't even done anything, I tried to get through a glass window which was already broken'."

In another incident later in June, Murray breached a night-time bail curfew.

Sheriff Derek Hamilton remarked: "It's a first for the court to hear of someone blaming the hot weather and over exposure to the sun for smashing windows."

Defence lawyer Tod responded that alcohol had also been involved.

Sheriff Hamilton said: "That is certainly not a first for this court."

Mr Tod said: "Mr Murray pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and had other matters accelerated in order to deal with them all."

Sheriff Hamilton noted that Murray has previous convictions for shoplifting and theft by housebreaking.

The sheriff said: "Custody is the only appropriate sentence.

Murray was sentenced to a total of 12 months imprisonment.