Home   News   Article

Homeless man jailed after stealing from Inverness pub and hotel


By Ali Morrison

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!
Inverness Sheriff Court.
Inverness Sheriff Court.

A homeless man has been sentenced to more than a year after breaking into premises in Inverness city centre.

Inverness Sheriff Court was told that 33-year-old Dean Barclay had a bad record for similar offences but had shown contrition by pleading guilty to his offences as earlier as possible.

The court had been told that the drug addict had been made homeless, having been thrown out of his supported accommodation in Union Street, Inverness shortly offending.

He went to the King's Highway in nearby Church Street in the early hours of February 22 this year and forced his way in to the building where he found an employee's jacket in the reception area.

He took a bank card from the man's wallet but the night porter returned and ordered him out of the building before calling the police, fiscal depute Robert Weir said.

Barclay had been filmed on city centre CCTV and was traced later that morning to a nearby coffee shop.

He was arrested and was twice asked by police if he had any sharp objects on his possession. He denied this but a later search discovered a red knife attached to a lanyard round his neck.

Barclay admitted theft by housebreaking and endangering the safety of two police officers by failing to disclose he had a knife in his possession.

Defence solicitor Neil Wilson told Sheriff Gary Aitken: "He is a drug user and thought the police were asking him if he had 'sharps' which is a colloquial description for needles.

"When he was under supervision from his last jail sentence, he was clean of drugs within two months, but reverted back into drug use again when that supervision ended.

"However his record does him no favours."

Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald sentenced Barclay to 16 months imprisonment and backdated his sentence to February 24, but ordered him to be under supervision on his release for eight months and to attend a drug treatment programme.

Click here for more court news


View our fact sheet on court reporting here




This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More