Repeat offender kicked out at police after being caught in botched bid to steal safe from house in Wick
A man was caught in the act of trying to steal a safe at a house in Wick, the town's sheriff court heard on Tuesday.
Morgan Stubbings was in the process of loosening the plasterboard surrounding the wall safe when police officers walked in.
The 23-year-old "didn't come quietly" and the officers were assaulted during a struggle to bring him under control and arrest him.
Stubbings, a repeat offender, claimed he was under the influence of drugs at the time and had no recollection of his botched robbery bid.
He was jailed for nine months by Sheriff Andrew Berry who said that the accused had a choice – an offence-free life or recurring jail sentences.
Outlining the background to the case, Fiscal David Barclay said that the house at 2 Osborne Close, off Coach Road, in Wick,

was owned by a local man but occupied by his son who was friendly with Stubbings. The owner had no knowledge of that.
However, the owner came round to check on his dog, on July 8, and ensure that the premises were secure.
Mr Barclay said that he got the impression there was someone in the house whom he found to be Stubbings. The owner wasn't sure how the accused came to be there when his (the owner's) son wasn't present and contacted the police.
The fiscal continued: "Officers attended and heard a loud banging and when they entered the property they discovered the reason was that the plasterboard around a wall safe had been loosened to remove the safe from the wall, which was significantly damaged."
Stubbings "didn't take kindly" to being arrested and kicked three of the officers in the ensuing struggle before he was brought under control. "Fortunately, none of the constables was injured."
Mr Barclay added that the accused's level of intoxication was so high that he couldn't be cautioned and charged at the time, on the basis that he would not have been able to take in what was being said to him.
Solicitor Graham Mann described Stubbings' safe bid as "a terrible error of judgment" taken after consuming "a great deal of drugs".
Sheriff Berry told Stubbings, of Murchison Street, Wick: "I think that over the years, I have had this same conversation with you. You either mend your ways and live a normal lifestyle, wherever that may be, or you spend your life serving prison sentences. Maybe I am wasting my breath."
Stubbings' jail term was backdated to July 8 when he was arrested. He admitted attempting to steal the safe and assaulting three police officers by kicking them repeatedly and a record.
The sheriff added: "You assaulted police officers who were responding to a call from a concerned property owner. They are entitled not to be treated as punch bags."