Malicious damage to city flats earns man 67 hours unpaid work

Two different reasons for trying to access a locked flat in Inverness landed a 38-year-old man in trouble with the law.

Phillip Arnold, of the city’s Mackintosh Road, was seen trying to get into a block of flats near his home in the same street by a pedestrian out for a walk.

Inverness Sheriff Court heard that Arnold had explained that he had locked himself out after losing his keys.

The passer-by volunteered to get some tools to help Arnold break in and returned with a crowbar and a hammer.

Arnold then began to try and gain access but police were informed by a concerned neighbour of a possible housebreaking.

When officers attended, Arnold told them that a friend of his was drunk inside and he was concerned for his safety.

Defence solicitor Clare Russell told Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood that her client’s only explanation was that he had relapsed into drug misuse and may have gone to the wrong block of flats.

Arnold admitted malicious damage and was ordered to carry out 67 hours of unpaid work.