A THIEF stole a mobile phone from a patient within the high dependency unit of Inverclyde Royal Hospital.

Gary McMaster claimed to police he'd merely found the handset but failed to explain why he'd kept it for more than an hour.

McMaster, 38, had been rushed to the ward after being found collapsed in the street through drugs.

He helped himself to the LG device shortly after being nursed to recovery and asking to use the toilet.

Prosecutor David Glancy said: "The phone was the property of a patient who was also receiving high dependency treatment."

Greenock Sheriff Court heard how McMaster sparked a call to police after the phone was found to be missing while he was 'moving around the place'.

His lawyer, Ellen Macdonald, said: "He has struggled with drugs and alcohol issues for a number of years, often stealing to fund his habit."

Sentence had been deferred to see if McMaster — who is currently serving a string of prison sentences for other crimes — would be suitable for a drug treatment and testing programme.

But Ms Macdonald said: "He feels that he would just be setting himself up to fail and wasting everyone's time and he just wants custody on this matter."

Fiscal depute Mr Glancy said: "He was admitted to the four-bed high dependency unit, having been found in the street under the influence.

"He'd recovered by the next day and was able to sit up and ask to use the toilet.

"He was then moving around the place and about an hour later a mobile phone was discovered to be missing.

"The area was searched and then the police became involved."

Mr Glancy added: "Officers spoke to him to see if he could assist and he said, whilst producing the phone, 'I found this in the toilet — I didn't steal anything'.

"He then said, 'I had it for an hour-and-a-half — if I stole it I'd have left'."

McMaster was jailed last year and placed on a Sex Offenders Register for committing an act of gross public indecency after exposing himself in front of a cash machine.

He also received a prison sentence for a separate breach of the peace matter.

The theft from the hospital occurred in May last year.

Sheriff Derek Hamilton sentenced McMaster, of Carwood Court in Greenock, to a further two months imprisonment.