Police caught crook behind the wheel of stolen van with false number plates on the Edinburgh City Bypass

A man who was caught driving a van that had previously been stolen from outside a home in Musselburgh has been jailed for 12 months.

Brown was jailed at Edinburgh Sheriff Court

The vehicle was taken from the home in the town before Daryl Brown was then caught driving the van towards the Edinburgh City Bypass at around 10.30pm on October 26 last year.

Brown, 27, was pulled over in the van, which by this time had new number plates fitted, by police officers on patrol near to Old Craighall around 20 minutes after the theft.

The officers were then said to have questioned Brown about the van but he told them “he was unsure where he got it”.

Solicitor James McMackin told Edinburgh Sheriff Court that his client had made “a calculated risk” to driving the van and has “numerous analogous” convictions on his record.

The court also heard Brown was admitting to driving the vehicle while having been previously banned from driving and with no insurance.

The lawyer said the father-of-two was accepting that “custody will be inevitable in this matter” and that there are still two outstanding matters to come before the court.

Brown, who appeared at the city court from custody, was sentenced to a total of 12 months in custody and banned from driving for the next four years.

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