Man jailed after DNA on dropped tissue links him to Edinburgh house targeting
Man who targeted home of organised crime figure's grandmother jailed for 21 months
A man who targeted the home of a rival’s grandmother after police identified him from a tissue he dropped at the scene.
Marcus Laidley-Sobers turned up at the property with his face masked and carrying a weapon and attempted to enter the home at the Ravelston area of Edinburgh.
The 29-year-old repeatedly rattled the front door handle but was forced to flee the area when his bungled attempts to gain entry were caught on Ring doorbell footage.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told Laidley-Sobers was later identified by his DNA after he had dropped a tissue at the front door as he left the area on March 20 last year.
He pleaded guilty to an amended charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner while armed with a weapon when he appeared at court last month.
An allegation of him holding an object that had the appearance of a firearm was amended to him being in possession of a weapon before the guilty plea was accepted.
Prosecutor Eildih Grant said despite initial reports to the police Laidley-Sobers had been in possession of a gun the Crown had “no evidence there was a firearm” involved.
Laidley-Sobers returned to the dock for sentencing on Wednesday where Sheriff Alison Stirling jailed him for 21 months and imposed a supervised release order for a further 10 months and three weeks on his release from custody.
Sheriff Stirling also said 223 days will be taken into account on the sentence due to the accused having previously spent 445 days on an electronic monitoring order.
Defence agent Chris Fehilly said his client had committed an offence that was “breathtaking in its stupidity” but asked for leniency after he had adhered to all his bail conditions.
Previously the court was told the occupant of the home was the grandmother of a man who police have assessed as being “a member of a serious organised crime group” as part of Operation Portaledge.
The woman was home alone and her partner at work when she heard her front door handle being tried at around 11.06pm on March 20 last year.
Her Ring doorbell was activated and she “observed a male with his face covered at the door” who was “repeatedly trying the handle while holding something in his right hand”.
The doorbell footage was also sent to the phone of the woman’s partner and he “believed the man was in possession of a firearm” and reported the incident to the police.
Ms Grant said: “Analysis of the Ring doorbell footage showed the accused had dropped a white tissue which fell to the ground by the door.
“An investigation of that was carried out and that was how the accused was identified.”
Police later raided Laidley-Sobers flat at the city’s Gracemount area and the court was told no evidence was found to him possessing a firearm.
Following sentencing, Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Ferry, of Police Scotland’s Specialist Crime Division, said: “Laidley-Sobers will now face the consequences of his actions.
‘Bringing another individual to justice is testament to the continued hard work and dedication by detectives, specialist officers and partners across the country.
“Police Scotland remains committed to the Serious and Organised Crime Taskforce and its national strategy.”
Operation Portaledge is the ongoing investigation into violent incidents in the East and West of the country.