A couple returned home from a funeral and discovered their house had been broken into and many belongings, including £4,500 worth of jewellery and a motorbike, had been stolen.
Gordon Jackson, of Cameron Park Brae, Elgin, carried out the break-in to the property in the Altyre Estate, Forres, after the couple left their home and garden shed locked on June 16, 2022.
Fiscal depute Robert Weir told Inverness Sheriff Court that a mobile phone with a CCTV application had been set up to monitor the property.
But he said it was also stolen in the raid.
“However, the owner was able to access the app remotely and obtain the footage which was examined by police,” Mr Weir added.
The motorbike, valued at £2,500, was recovered but it had sustained £250 worth of damage, Mr Weir told Sheriff Gary Aitken.
‘The charges are serious’
The court heard Jackson’s home was raided by police on June 17 and three coins valued at £200 were found in the property, which had been stolen in another housebreaking.
Jackson admitted a charge of reset – possessing stolen goods – and theft by housebreaking.
His solicitor Michael Burnett said: “He says that the housebreaking was carried out with others who entered the house – he only broke into the shed.
“I have explained art and part to him and that he is responsible for it all.”
Jailing Jackson for 18 months, Sheriff Aitken told him: “The charges are serious when set against your offending history.
“It may be some time since your last housebreaking, but you received a significant jail sentence then and that should have been a warning to you of what may happen.”