A CALLOUS thief - who left a woman too scared to stay in her own home and stole a TV because it was his birthday - will have to remain out of trouble for another few weeks.

As reported in the Advertiser previously, 44-year-old Richard Beresford was placed on a Community Payback Order with supervision for 12 months and given 120 hours of unpaid work for stealing a laptop, iPod and charger from two vehicles in the Wee County on May 25 last year.

Beresford, of Garvally Crescent in Alloa, had also pleaded guilty to smashing a window pane in an attempt to break into a house in the town's Sandpiper Meadow on July 11, 2016.

In addition, he admitted stealing a telly worth £459 from a van delivering goods in Alloa's Tummel Court on August 31 last year.

In February, fiscal depute Ruaraidh Ferguson told Alloa Sheriff Court that the impact of the attempted housebreaking was so severe, the woman who lived there had to move house.

Mr Ferguson also reported that Beresford admitted stealing the television, confessing to police: "It was daft, it was my birthday, I was daft."

At the time, Sheriff Christopher Shead deferred sentence for the attempted housebreaking and TV theft to monitor the accused's progress on the CPO.

Returning to court last Thursday, defence agent Kelly Howe claimed that Beresford was engaging with services and had completed a "great number" of unpaid work hours.

Sheriff Sukhwinder Gill deferred sentence further until April 20 for the accused's good behaviour to continue.