A man who stole a car and carelessly crashed another has been spared jail at Inverness Sheriff Court.
Anthony Jackson was caught on the Mercedes he targeted saying: “I have never stolen a car before.”
Nine days later, Jackson drove another vehicle with no licence or insurance and crashed it into a house in Balloch.
Car thief sentenced in Inverness
Jackson appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court for sentencing having previously admitted stealing a car, careless driving and driving with no licence or insurance.
A previous hearing heard that the car theft took place on July 5 last year.
Fiscal depute Martina Eastwood said at around 5pm the Mercedes was parked outside its owner’s Lily Bank home.
The woman and her partner then left to go out for dinner.
“When they returned the car had gone,” Ms Eastwood said.
The missing car was reported to police and was found at around 3.50am the following day.
“Police officers located the Mercedes Benz parked unattended in a parking space, with a broken side window and blood staining inside the vehicle.”
Ms Eastwood explained that an SD card was recovered from a system inside the vehicle, which had been recording.
‘I have never stolen a car before’
“Mr Jackson could be heard to speak and at one point he could be seen leaving the vehicle,” she said, adding that at one point Jackson could be heard to say: “F***ing hell this is hard to do, I have never stolen a car before.”
The car was returned to its owner, but the estimated cleaning bill for the blood-stained interior was so high that the insurance company refused to pay it.
Court papers relating to the other incident detailed how Jackson drove carelessly without a licence or insurance in a different vehicle nine days after he stole the Mercedes.
On this occasion he drove at excessive speed for the road conditions and caused his vehicle to collide with a traffic island, a house and another car on Culloden Road, Balloch, damaging them and injuring himself.
At the sentencing hearing defence agent Graham Mann referred Sheriff Sara Matheson to a criminal justice social work report, which detailed the circumstances surrounding Jackson’s offending – for which he apologised.
He noted that there were no uninsured losses as a result of the second incident.
Sheriff Matheson placed Jackson, of Torris Road, Balloch, on community payback orders, requiring him to complete 180 hours of unpaid work in relation to the car theft and 120 hours of unpaid work in relation to the other incident.
She also banned him from the roads for 12 months.