A FAILED thief who was arrested while wearing latex gloves at four in the morning has been jailed.

Andrew Stevens was rumbled after repeatedly approaching the front door of a property in Sauchie in the early hours of February 11.

The 44-year-old was recorded loitering around the building on the homeowner's security camera.

At one point he even spotted the device was recording him and tried, unsuccessfully, to remove it from an outside wall.

He also unsuccessfully tried to gain access to a vehicle parked in the driveway.

The homeowner was alerted to the activity by an application on their phone, and contacted police.

Stevens was traced by officers shortly after, and was found to be wearing a camouflaged rucksack and latex gloves.

He was subsequently arrested and charged with entering the curtilage of a property with intent to commit theft.

He admitted the offence while appearing from custody at Alloa Sheriff Court on Thursday, February 13.

In mitigation, solicitor Kelly Howe claimed Stevens couldn't remember what happened on the night in question because he had been under the influence of benzodiazepines.

She said he took the drug during a "moment of madness", believing it to be amphetamines which she described as his "drug of choice".

But Sheriff Craig Harris was unimpressed with the excuse, and said: "It was your choice to take substances, and you have to face the consequences of that.

"Imprisonment is appropriate."

He then jailed Stevens, of Craigview in Sauchie, for a total of 80 days.