Courts in Moray:- Mourners had home near Forres broken into during funeral
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Mourners at a funeral returned home to find their house broken into and many items stolen including £4500 of jewellery and a motorbike.
The break-in happened at a home on the Altyre Estate near Forres.
The couple had left their home and garden shed locked on June 16, 2020.
Fiscal depute Robert Weir told Inverness Sheriff Court that a mobile phone with a CCTV application had also 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.
Gordon Jackson of Cameron Park Brae, Elgin, was identified.
The thief's home was raided by police the following day .
The motorbike, valued at £2500, was recovered but had sustained £250 of damage.
Three coins, valued at £200, were also found 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 Gaary 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."
