Key Points
- Guilty Pleas: Kevin Collins (41) and Anthony Rasmussen (32) admitted guilt at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on September 29, avoiding a jury trial.
- Geographic Scope: The crime wave spanned multiple regions across Scotland, including Tarbet, Stirling, Glasgow, Clydebank, Renton, Alexandria, Dumbarton, Gartmore, Kippen, and Kirkintilloch.
- Timeline of Offences: The charges cover a prolonged period between February 2023 and June 2024.
- Stolen Property: Assets stolen or reset included quad bikes, trailers, jet skis, a chainsaw, a wood chipper, cameras, motor vehicles, and bicycles.
- Co-Accused Cleared: James McKinley (54) and Christopher McKernan (48) had their not guilty pleas accepted by the Crown and left the dock.
- Partial Acquittals: Prosecutors accepted that Collins and Rasmussen were not guilty of breaking into garages in Tarbet and stealing a motor vehicle in Drymen.
- Next Steps: Sheriff Maxwell Hendry adjourned the case for criminal justice reports, with sentencing scheduled for October 29.
Dumbarton (Glasgow Express) October 5, 2026 – Two men have formally admitted their criminal involvement in a sprawling series of thefts and reset offences that stretched across several Scottish local authority areas, traversing from the rural landscapes of Tarbet and Stirling down to the urban environments of Glasgow. Kevin Collins, aged 41, residing at Lennox Drive in Clydebank, and Anthony Rasmussen, aged 32, residing at Braehead in Bonhill, entered their guilty pleas at Dumbarton Sheriff Court just as a scheduled jury trial was set to commence.
The legal proceedings brought an end to months of judicial preparation concerning a complex catalogue of offences committed between February 2023 and June 2024. The accused individuals targeted a diverse array of high-value property, ranging from heavy agricultural equipment and leisure watercraft to domestic vehicles and bicycles, impacting rural communities, remote estates, and city properties alike.
What specific charges did Kevin Collins admit to?
Kevin Collins pleaded guilty to multiple charges relating to the acquisition, reset, and direct theft of valuable machinery and vehicles across central and western Scotland. His admissions included a charge of reset spanning between May 2023 and February 2024 in Renton, where he handled a trailer and quad bike that had been originally stolen during a residential housebreaking incident in June 2022.
Expanding his criminal activity into Scotland’s largest city, Collins admitted to stealing a motor vehicle on May 11 and 12, 2023, at Lancefield Quay in Glasgow. Weeks later, on June 19, 2023, he targeted the luxury sector by stealing two jet skis from the South Lodge of the Cameron House Estate Track.
His rural thefts continued on October 12, 2023, when he stole a chainsaw from the rear of a property situated in Ballyheenan Crescent, Tarbet. Later that autumn, on November 29 or 30, 2023, Collins stole a quad bike, a trailer, and a camera from Railway Cottages in Aberfoyle, Stirling. The string of heavy equipment thefts concluded on December 18, 2023, when he stole a wood chipper and a trailer from a farm located on Kilsyth Road in Kirkintilloch.
What specific charges did Anthony Rasmussen admit to?
Anthony Rasmussen admitted to a distinct yet overlapping series of reset and theft charges that demonstrated a coordinated pattern of property acquisition across West Dunbartonshire and Stirling. He pleaded guilty to the reset of a bicycle in Alexandria on February 8, 2024, an item that had been stolen nearly two and a half years prior in October 2021.
Furthermore, Rasmussen admitted to the reset of a second bicycle that had been stolen in June 2022 from a parked motor van. Moving onto direct thefts, Rasmussen pleaded guilty to stealing a motor vehicle from the historic grounds of Overtoun House in Dumbarton on February 7, 2023.
His involvement extended into rural Stirling later that year when he stole a trailer from Main Street in Gartmore on November 29, 2023. On that same night into November 30, Rasmussen partook in the theft of a quad bike from a working farm in Kippen, Stirling.
How did the court handle the co-accused individuals?
The legal proceedings at Dumbarton Sheriff Court also involved two other men who had initially faced scrutiny alongside Collins and Rasmussen. James McKinley, aged 54, of Orbiston Drive in Clydebank, and Christopher McKernan, aged 48, of Pappert in Bonhill, had both appeared in connection with the case.
However, following a review of the evidence and discussions within the courtroom, the Crown formally accepted that McKinley and the other co-accused were not guilty of the charges against them. Both men were subsequently cleared and permitted to leave the dock without a criminal conviction arising from these specific proceedings.
In addition, prosecutors accepted pleas of not guilty from Collins and Rasmussen regarding specific allegations that they had broken into garages in Tarbet and stolen a motor vehicle in Drymen, narrowing the scope of the final convictions recorded against them.
What happens next in the judicial process?
Following the acceptance of the guilty pleas by the court, Sheriff Maxwell Hendry formally adjourned the case to allow for the compilation of necessary background and criminal justice reports.
The legal process will resume at Dumbarton Sheriff Court, where Collins and Rasmussen are scheduled to return for sentencing on October 29, at which point the full extent of their penalties will be determined by the judiciary.
Background of the development
This court case highlights an ongoing challenge faced by law enforcement agencies across Scotland regarding rural and cross-boundary acquisitive crime. Property crimes involving high-value agricultural machinery, utility trailers, quad bikes, and specialized tools have historically posed significant economic and operational burdens for farmers, estate managers, and small business owners in regions like Stirling, West Dunbartonshire, and Argyll and Bute. Because items such as quad bikes and wood chippers are easily transportable and frequently kept in remote, unmonitored outbuildings, they are prime targets for organized or opportunistic thieves who can quickly transport stolen goods across regional police divisions—such as moving items from rural Tarbet or Aberfoyle down into urban hubs like Glasgow or Clydebank for concealment, use, or resale. The dismantling of this particular theft network through a combined guilty plea at Dumbarton Sheriff Court represents a critical judicial milestone in addressing the illicit supply chain of stolen commercial and agricultural equipment in western Scotland.
Prediction
The resolution of this case and the impending sentencing of Kevin Collins and Anthony Rasmussen are expected to provide a strong deterrent signal to individuals engaging in cross-county property theft and reset operations across the Scottish central belt. For the rural and agricultural communities in Stirling, Tarbet, and surrounding regions—who rely heavily on expensive machinery, utility vehicles, and trailers for their daily livelihoods—the convictions offer a measure of legal closure and reassurance that multi-jurisdictional property crimes are actively tracked and prosecuted by Scottish courts. Furthermore, local property owners and farmers may experience a heightened sense of security following the removal of these active criminal elements from the area, though police and security analysts anticipate that rural communities will continue to maintain enhanced vigilance and upgraded physical security measures to protect vulnerable rural assets against opportunistic theft.
