Squatter tried to sell Peebleshire house for £70k

A squatter who tried to sell the cottage he was living in has avoided a jail sentence.

Ewan Turner attempted to claim £70,000 from selling the property in Walkerburn in the Scottish Borders.

The 36-year-old even spent thousands of pounds doing up the property, but was caught when the owner discovered it was for sale. Police have described his crimes as very 'rare'.

You can watch the full report from our Borders reporter Jenny Longden below.

A squatter who tried to sell a cottage that did not belong to him has been sentenced to 120 hours of community service.

Ewan Turner was described in a report read out at Selkirk Sheriff court today as having "an anti-social and narcissistic personality, he is deceitful and likes conning people for pleasure" through "grandiose schemes".

Between March and May 2011, Turner put Kirnie Cottage in Walkerburn on the market.

It had lain empty for some time, and the owner of the property had recently passed away.

Mr Turner's scheme to sell the cottage was revealed when a woman who was bequeathed it found a For Sale sign at the cottage.

Referring to Mr Turner's plan to sell the house, his lawyer told Selkirk Sheriff Court that it was "always doomed for failure".

A squatter tried to sell the cottage he living in for £70,000, despite not owning the property.

Ewan Turner moved into Kirnie Cottage, Walkerburn, Peebleshire, after noticing it was empty.

Mr Turner, 36, tried to market the two bedroomed property after the owner's death in 2011.

Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser told the court that Mr Turner had been squatting in the property for nine months when he decided to try and sell it.

Mr Turner, from Abbotsford Road, Galashiels, claimed he had spent £8,000 on making the property 'liveable' after he found it lying derelict.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of pretending to be the owner of the cottage between March and May in 2011 and attempting to induce someone to sell it on his behalf and get the proceeds by fraud.

Sentence has been deferred until 17th December for background reports.