Inverness bike thief couldn't remember what he did with it
A bicycle worth thousands of pounds stolen from an Inverness supermarket was never recovered because the thief claimed he couldn't remember what he did with it.
John Muir, of Oldtown Road, Inverness was appearing for sentence at the city's sheriff court after previously admitting stealing the bicycle from Tesco Extra at Inshes on September 13 last year.
Fiscal depute David Morton told Sheriff Sara Matheson: "The theft was filmed on CCTV."
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The sheriff asked defence solicitor Marc Dickson: "What happened to the bike? It was worth thousands of pounds."
Mr Dickson replied: "He has little recollection of the theft."
Sheriff Matheson then told Muir: "Bicycle theft is beginning to become an issue in this area. A lot of people have expensive bicycles and I have to keep people safe and treat these offences seriously."
However the sheriff stopped short of jailing Muir because she had been told by Mr Dickson and in the social work background report that he was making efforts to better himself.
Instead, as an alternative to custody, she ordered Muir to carry out 180 hours of unpaid community work.
