A 43-year-old Inverness waiter who was found lurking around a property when it could be inferred he was there to commit theft escaped a jail sentence yesterday.
Instead Sheriff Margaret Neilson ordered Joseph Bokas, of Alexander Place, Inverness, to perform 150 hours of unpaid community work.
Inverness Sheriff Court was told that Bokas had similar previous convictions but from several years ago and, after hearing from defence solicitor John MacColl, the sheriff was dissuaded from a custodial sentence.
A background report had been called for by the sheriff and she decided prison was not necessary.
At an earlier hearing, she was told that about 12.30am on December 30, 2017 a resident of a house in Bruce Gardens heard footsteps outside his property and security lights were activated.
Depute fiscal David Morton said: “He got dressed to investigate and heard steps on the neighbour’s gravel and a man, now identified as Bokas, was walking away. He called the police and followed Bokas and pointed him out to police.”
Mr MacColl said his client had turned his life around and although imprisonment would have been uppermost in the Sheriff’s mind, he felt a community based disposal would suffice.