A thief posed as a student to steal centuries-old documents about the origins of the Catholic church in Scotland worth thousands of pounds.

Oliver Fallon, 40, was allowed access to documents at the Scottish Catholic Archives in Edinburgh after telling staff he was a post-graduate student from London.

He ripped out pages and stole 288 items worth £26,400.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard Fallon, from London, made five visits to the centre in the city's Drummond Place, which holds records of the Catholic church in Scotland dating back to 1177, during July 2006.

The SCA looks after administrative, financial and legal documents of the church and many items are letters sent to churchmen from overseas and are valuable primary sources from the early days of the British Empire and the colonisation of America.

Archivists only realised he had stolen from them when Fallon was arrested for a similar crime in London and told police he had done the same in Edinburgh.

They discovered 288 files were either missing or damaged.

Fallon, of 124A Coombe Lane, London, pled guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court to stealing various historical documents and letters from the Scottish Catholic Archives. He is due to be sentenced next month following background reports.

The court was told visitors who want to view archives at the SCA must be interviewed by an archivist and are only allowed to take a pencil and paper into the reading room where they are shown the documents, but are not allowed to remove them from the building.

Fallon went to the SCA on July 13 claiming to be a post-graduate student from a university in London and gave his details. He returned the following day and on another three occasions during the following week.

"During his time there he selected documents or ripped or tore pieces from documents which he placed in his notebook and then left the archives with the pieces of documents," said fiscal depute John Cook. "The archives are very rare and valuable."

English police contacted the SCA after arresting Fallon in London, and the archivist found 288 files were missing or "mutilated" said Mr Cook.

He said the items Fallon had taken were worth £26,400.

Fallon later returned 31 of the documents voluntarily and wrote a note of apology to the archivist at the SCA. He later sent more documents back in an envelope and others were found in his home.

He told police he had taken them because he had financial worries and had sold some of the items for £5,000.

The court was told Fallon has returned £14,325 worth of items but the SCA had to spend £4,575 repairing them, and remained £16,650 out of pocket.

John Mulholland, defending, said Fallon had been convicted in England of obtaining documents by deception from the Catholic Archives in London and had told police about the Edinburgh theft.

Sheriff Noel McPartlin warned Fallon he could face a custodial sentence.