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Inverness boy woke to find thief in chair in his bedroom


By Andrew Dixon

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MacMillan appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday and admitted two charges of theft by housebreaking on January 12 this year.
MacMillan appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday and admitted two charges of theft by housebreaking on January 12 this year.

A family woke up in the middle of the night to find a strange man sitting in a game chair in a bedroom.

They successfully ushered him out of the property in the Hilton housing estate of Inverness after taking a photo of him.

However they then realised that mobile phones were missing, their shed door had been ripped open, and reported the break-ins to police.

Officers quickly traced 33 year old Iain MacMillan to his mother’s home in Kintail Crescent where they found the missing items.

MacMillan appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday and admitted two charges of theft by housebreaking on January 12 this year.

He was jailed for 12 months, backdated to January 13. Sheriff Sara Matheson told him that the early morning break-in “must have been terrifying for this family.”

Defence solicitor Marc Dickson said his client, who had an extensive record, was under the influence of substances and had little recollection of what had happened.

“When he was challenged, he was peacefully led from the property.”

Fiscal depute David Morton said the doors of the property were locked, although the bathroom window was slightly open to let the cats in.

“About 0610am on Sunday 12th January 2020, the couple’s 13 year old son woke up in his bedroom as his bedroom light had been turned on. On doing so, he saw a male within his room who he didn’t know, sat on his gaming chair.

“He describes how the male – now known to be Mr MacMillan - noticed him wake up and then started rambling to him; talking about a party. Mr MacMillian was playing around with his old mobile phone which was on the bedroom unit.

“He subsequently also realised his current IPhone was missing.” Mr Morton went on.

He added that the family then noticed that the bathroom window was now closed and that there was a muddy footprint on the bathroom window sill and floor area.

“On looking out to their shed they also realised that the door has been ripped off and a child’s scooter and football taken from within. These items had been subsequently discarded on their garden decking.”

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