Man admits bike theft from Danny MacAskill's flat

The mountain bike was taken from Danny MacAskill's flat in 2019

A man has admitted stealing a bike worth £8,500 from the Glasgow flat of professional cyclist Danny MacAskill.

Francis Stevenson, 52, made off with a total of £11,765 of items from Mr MacAskill's home on 7 May 2019.

The stolen bike was returned after Mr MacAskill shared a CCTV image on social media of a man riding it.

The Skye-born cyclist said he locked his Pollokshields flat after midday. About an hour later, a neighbour saw a stranger in the stairwell.

The neighbour spoke with the man who was sorting two polythene bags.

Mr MacAskill returned at around 17:00 to find that a variety of items had been taken.

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Prosecutor Sean Docherty said: "The following items were stolen - a mountain bike valued at £8,500, two ski jackets valued at £570, a Gucci watch valued at £500.

"There was also a Tag Heuer watch valued at £980, mixed currency totalling £600, a Nintendo Switch valued at £300, a passport, a Seiko watch at £100 and a beard trimmer valued at £15."

Mr MacAskill, who was noted to have a "large scale social media following" with around 500 million views on YouTube, posted a request for information regarding his stolen property.

Requests were also made to identify the offender who the stunt cyclist had an image of from nearby CCTV. The man, later identified as Stevenson, was recorded cycling away from the flat.

Mr Docherty said: "On 13 May 2019, following the message on social media, witnesses observed Stevenson riding the bike on Maryhill Road.

"They stopped Stevenson and retrieved the bike and cycle helmet before he then made off."

Stevenson, of the city's Maryhill, was arrested nearly a month later for another matter.

He pled guilty to a single charge of theft and sentencing has been deferred until October for good behaviour.