A shoplifter was so desperate to escape police after stealing bottles of alcohol from a city centre supermarket that he jumped into a river.
Zen Etchells had stolen rum worth £72 from the Co-op on Church Street in Inverness and fled the scene on foot.
His solicitor said his life was so chaotic at the time that he had tried to evade officers by throwing himself into the River Ness.
Etchells, 27, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court for sentencing on two charges of theft by shoplifting as well as charges of assault and breach of bail.
Fiscal depute Emma MacEwan said that on April 13 of this year Etchells had been challenged by a member of staff in Marks and Spencer in Eastgate over whether he intended to pay of items.
‘I’m not a shoplifter’
He told them: “I’m not a shoplifter” and the items were rung through the till.
But when his payment card was declined on multiple tries, Etchell’s grabbed the bag and ran from the store, dropping a prescription bottle with his name on the label in the process.
Then, on April 18, he was spotted by staff in the Co-op collecting five bottles of Captain Morgan’s rum from the shelves and putting them in a carrier bag before leaving the store and running towards the river.
Solicitor Duncan Henderson, for Etchells, said his client decided to jump into the waters in an attempt to escape capture by police.
‘Chaotic’ accused jumped in River Ness
“I think that shows how chaotic his life had been,” Mr Henderson added.
Etchells also assaulted a man outside of The Gunsmiths Bar on Union Street on July 16 by pushing him.
Members of the public had to restrain him until police arrived.
“He started shouting and swearing. The witness was of the opinion the accused was about to head butt or spit at him,” Ms MacEwan said.
Etchells, of Station Road, Fortrose, also admitted breaching bail conditions that prevented him from entering Inverness except for court appearances or leaving his home between the hours of 7pm and 6am.
Accused ‘substituted alcohol for drugs’
Mr Henderson explained that Etchells had struggled with substance abuse but had made “great progress” on a court ordered drug treatment and testing programme.
However, since Covid restrictions were brought in, he had substituted alcohol use for drugs, which was “not an effective stabiliser” in his life.
As a direct alternative to custody, Sheriff Sara Matheson placed Etchells on a community payback order with 18 months’ supervision and an alcohol treatment requirement, a disposal he told the court he was “100 per cent” willing to comply with.
