A man who stalked a waitress by staring at her at work and outside her home was jailed for a total of 12 months at Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday.
Marcin Raczko, of no fixed address, denied the offence which occurred on May 23 this year but was found guilty by Sheriff Margaret Neilson earlier this week.
But Raczko also appeared again on two breaches of community payback orders, imposed last year for frightening a woman by sending her a text message and being abusive and threatening towards his mother.
These offences occurred in August and October last year.
Sheriff Neilson told 30-year-old Raczko who had been in custody since May 26: “Given your record, the breaches of orders and the nature of the offences, there is no alternative but a custodial sentence.”
He was jailed for eight months for the stalking and two months each for the breaches, to be served consecutively.
Earlier this week Natalia Winiarczyk, 31, of Crown Avenue, Inverness told the court she was working at Lorimer’s cafe in the centre when she noticed Raczko standing a short distance away watching her.
She said: “He was staring at me and it made me feel very nervous. I didn’t know him but I had seen him before. He knew where I lived and would often stand outside my house.
“He was there for about half an hour watching me. I was very distressed when I finished work and I reported it to the police. I went home and when I got there he was standing across the street from my house when I went in the front door.
“I had to wait there for an hour and a half until I had calmed myself down. He wasn’t there when I went out to collect my daughter from nursery.”
CCTV footage showed Raczko standing between KFC and Lorimers staring in the direction of the cafe before moving away towards the exit door where he again stood for a few minutes before leaving.
Ms Winiarczyk’s colleague, Paulina Rosenall, 26, said her friend had come over to her and told her the man was staring at her.
“I saw him wandering around for about five or ten minutes staring at Natalia.
“She was scared to go home so I offered to walk with her, but I couldn’t leave work early so she went home herself.”
Raczko denied staring at her and insisted he was just wandering around the centre. He also said he had seen her before and admitted walking past her house.