INVERNESS SHERIFF COURT: Drug addict carried out string of assault and robberies around the Highland capital to fund diazepam habit
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A DRUG addict who carried out a string of break-ins on “vulnerable” home-owners has been jailed for more than a year.
Dean Barclay (35) targeted women alone in their homes and a pensioner with mobility issues for cash as he attempted to feed his diazepam habit, a court heard.
He admitted multiple assaults and robberies when appearing from custody at Inverness Sheriff Court. The offences all took place in Inverness in March.
Barclay, described as a prisoner at Porterfield, turned up at one woman’s door on March 4.
The night before, he had turned up at a neighbour’s door asking for a man who did not live there. He shone a torch into the property and covered up the peep hole as well.
The court heard he attended the properties in Benula Road on two occasions with one woman finding Barclay in her kitchen before he ran off.
And on March 6, he followed an elderly man who used a walking stick before assaulting him in Culloden Road. He made off with a mobile phone, a bank card and £60 in cash.
The day before, he had assaulted one of the women in Benula Road and taken her bank card and £25.
And on March 6, at an address in Kessock Avenue, he assaulted another woman and attempted to rob her of a cash-box containing £460.
Solicitor Neil Wilson said his client was single, unemployed and had no children.
He added: “The background to Mr Barclay’s offending is the abuse of drugs – in particular diazepam.
“He is plainly someone who needs help.”
Sheriff Robert Frazer sentenced Barclay to 16 months in prison.
