A 52-year-old man has been put on probation after an attempted theft from a vehicle.

Kevin Stephen Quirk admitted the offence and was also ordered to pay £125 prosecution costs.

Prosecuting advocate Hazel Carroon told the court that Quirk had been captured on CCTV entering a van, on July 6 at 2am.

He was looking through the vehicle but it was not known if anything was taken.

Quirk, who was said to be of no fixed address, was subsequently arrested and during a police interview, answered ‘no comment’ to all questions.

Defence advocate Stephen Wood said that the complainant’s statement only referred to possibly some small change being taken from the vehicle, but this was not confirmed, so the charge was attempted theft.

The offence was committed while Quirk was coming to the end of a previous probation order, imposed for similar matters.

A probation report said that Quirk’s previous probation order had ended on July 10 and that he had engaged well, successfully completing the order.

The report said that Quirk could offer no explanation for the latest offence and that he was embarrassed because video of it had been circulating.

His probation officer said that he had been going through a difficult time and reacted in a negative way when he was distressed.

The report said that Tromode House, the probation accommodation, had been contacted, as Quirk currently had no address.

Defence advocate Mr Wood said: ‘You would probably need medical professionals to find the root cause of the offending.

‘The potential gain from breaking into a car was unlikely to be anything significant.

‘It was absolutely pointless behaviour, and repeated behaviour that has brought him before the court previously.’

Mr Wood went on to say that Quirk had stayed out of trouble during his previous period of probation.

Magistrates ordered the defendant to pay the prosecution costs at a rate of £10 per week, after the conclusion of previous fines.