A 35-year-old Inverness man who failed to complete an unpaid work court order for stealing a dog was jailed for 14 months yesterday.
Paul Connor was ordered to carry out 120 hours at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in March last year for the theft of the canine the year before.
But yesterday at Inverness Sheriff Court, Connor, of Rossal House, Island Bank Road, admitted breaching that order.
The court was told Connor had been given the dog by an acquaintance who didn’t want it any longer.
Defence solicitor Pauline Chapman explained that Connor later sold the dog to a woman, only for the original owner to want it back.
Mrs Chapman said: “He was forced to retrieve the dog and approached offering to buy it back. But it was not accepted and he felt pressurised into taking the dog.”
Connor also admitted two police assaults he committed in March and May this year in Inverness.
He attempted to head-butt one officer who was questioning him in Eildon Guest House on the city’s High Street.
Connor then kicked another constable on the shin when he was being placed in a police cell on May 25, this year on another matter.
He also pleaded guilty to the theft of £140 worth of alcohol from Asda on December 7.
Sheriff David Sutherland heard that it was never recovered.