A sneak thief raided a popular music festival to steal mobile phones as the owners enjoyed themselves on the shore of Loch Ness.
But it took the authorities almost three years to catch up with 30-year-old Mindaugas Gvazdauskas, who had moved to London to escape justice.
Last month at Inverness Sheriff Court, the long arm of the law caught up with him and he appeared from custody to admit four charges of stealing from tents at the Rockness Festival in June 2013.
He also admitted stealing an £80 sweater from TK Maxx on April 10, 2013, and illegal possession of a knife.
Gvazdauskas, who formerly stayed in Mackay Road, Inverness, also pleaded guilty to breaking into a property in Baron Taylor’s Street on April 10, 2013 and stealing a quantity of cash, a wallet and bank cards, a mobile phone and a Bulgarian ID card.
Sentence was deferred until yesterday for a background report and he was again remanded in custody.
He re-appeared before Sheriff Margaret Neilson who had been told that revellers had seen him going in and out of tents which aroused suspicion.
Fiscal depute David Morton added: “Security guards were informed and they went looking for him. They saw him creeping around and he was challenged.
“He was found to be in possession of a number of phones and the police were called.”
Sheriff Neilson commented: “The Rockness offences caused a lot of public outrage at the time, I remember.”
Jailing Gvazdauskas for a total of 11 months, she told him: “Due to the lack of contrition and the fact that you evaded justice for over three years, you are not someone who can be trusted to comply with court orders.”
The Sheriff backdated the sentence to October 13 when Gvazdauskas was taken into custody but added 14 days to his sentence for two unpaid fines.