A COUPLE were praised for steps they have taken to turn their lives around when they appeared in the dock for theft.

Donna Daniels and Charles Hay were caught stealing items from a clothing store in Silverburn.

But the pair, from Kilmarnock, had their sentences deferred to be of good behaviour.

Glasgow Sheriff Court was told that around 12.45pm on October 5, 2019, the witness was working as a store assistant for Hugo Boss in the South Side shopping centre.

She saw a man and a woman come in to the shop but make no purchases and then leave again.

When she carried out a stock check she noticed a white t shirt was missing.

Looking at CCTV footage she saw both Daniels and Hay enter the shop, take items, place them in a bag and leave the store "making no effort to pay for them".

On the same day they were seen on CCTV taking items from JD Sports in Silverburn as well.

Security staff in the shopping centre were able to trace both of them.

When they were approached the pair became aggressive, calling a staff member "b*****" and saying "You don't have an emotional bone in your body".

Daniels's defence brief, who was standing in for her main solicitor, told the court his colleague had said: "To everybody's astonishment she has complied with [a previous] community payback order and has taken steps to turn her life around."

Hay's lawyer said he had managed to have a year without any other offending and said he is currently on another court order.

Sheriff Charles Lugton told Daniels she "seemed to be making good progress" and deferred sentencing for four months to allow her to be of good behaviour.

To Hay, he said the XX-year-old was "doing well by all accounts" and again deferred sentencing for four months for good behaviour.