A DRUG addict accepted £500 to steal a £36,000 digger.
But he was seen and tracked by an unknown super sleuth who phoned police and gave them the thief’s movements.
John Harkin, 44, pleaded guilty to stealing the JCB belonging to Buckhirst Plant Hire on August 27 last year.
Prosecutor Alex Bosman said he was spotted on Alder Street in Fartown and then traced to Railway Street in Brighouse.
Mr Bosman said: “Police received an anonymous phone call to say a JCB had been taken from a yard on Alder Street. He was seen on CCTV arriving in a Ford Transit van and burning the lock off the compound where he entered the yard.
“A JCB digger worth £36,000 was stolen along with a second plant hire vehicle. There were other people involved.”
Harkin, of Stratford Street, Leeds, was followed in the digger to Railway Street in Brighouse, where he was seen leaving it and walking off towards Bradford Road.
The digger was recovered but its switchboard had been damaged to the cost of £1,552.13.
He was arrested and remained silent in his police interview and tested positive for an illegal substance.
He admitted the offence when he appeared before Kirklees Magistrates’ Court.
In Harkin’s defence he told the court he had relapsed into drug use and accepted £500 to steal the JCB.
He accepted that he had done wrong.
Kirklees magistrates sent his case to Leeds Crown Court, telling him their sentencing powers were restricted in his case.
He will re-appear before the court on February 5.
