A man has been jailed for four months after he broke into and trashed the Irvine Times office.

Dylan Templeton, 22, broke into the office on Ardrossan’s Princes Street in the early evening of Sunday, March 5.

Workers at the Times arrived at the building on Monday this week to find their desks ransacked and possessions strewn all over the floor.

Templeton appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court this week.

During his appearance on Monday afternoon, he pleaded guilty to stealing mobile phones and cash.

Templeton set off the alarm when he broke into the building and the sound alerted a nearby resident.

The member of the public saw the lights on in the building and waited outside for Templeton to leave.

He then pinned Templeton down in the street until the police arrived.

The court heard that Templeton told police he had broken in “with the intention of sleeping there”. 

He added that he “wanted to go back to prison”.

Addressing the court, Fiscal Miss White described Templeton’s break-in as “the height of stupidity”.

Defending Templeton, solicitor Ms Gallen said that Templeton had been sleeping rough and had been looking for a place to sleep.

She also stressed that while he had a record, he had “no dishonesty offences”.

The defence lawyer told Sheriff Brian Murphy: “He broke into the premises looking for somewhere warm to spend the night.

“He had been drinking.

“He appreciates that he’s likely to receive a custodial sentence and he asks that you sentence him today.

“He would rather get his head down and get on with it.”

Sheriff Murphy told Templeton: “I’ve no choice but to sentence you to four months imprisonment, discounted from six months.”