Highlands man tried to swap stolen puppy for a car

A man who tried to swap a stolen puppy for a car has been jailed for six months.

William Cochrane was snared in a sting set up by someone who spotted he was trying to exchange the nine week old Staffordshire bull terrier and two bicycles on the internet.

Inverness Sheriff Court heard a witness had seen a picture of the stolen dog on a website for missing pets.

Depute fiscal Ruaraidh McAlister told Sheriff Margaret Neilson when he saw the family pet and two bikes being advertised as a swap for a car the witness thought it was too much of a coincidence.

"He passed on a photo of the dog to the owners who confirmed it was their pup," said Mr McAlister.

He told Inverness Sheriff Court an arrangement was then put in place to meet Cochrane who arrived in a car at the Tomnahurich swing bridge in the city.

Mr McAlister said: "The witness purporting to buy the dog attended and the owners were hidden out of sight. The accused opened the boot and showed the witness the dog.

"The witness shouted the owners and they called the dog which went running towards them."

Mr McAlister said Cochrane was restrained at the scene and the police were called.

Cochrane admitted resetting the dog which was stolen from a garden in the city’s St Francis Gardens on May 18. He admitted a further charge of stealing a bike from Church Street which the court heard was spotted on CCTV cameras.

The court had been told the dog’s owner had put it into a secure garden in St Francis Gardens on the morning of May 18 and returned a few minutes later to find it missing.

Cochrane (29) of Kenneth Place, Inverness appeared from custody.

His solicitor Graham Mann described the reset as ‘an act of opportunism’.

Cochrane was the subject of a drug treatment testing order (DTTO) at the time of the offence and Mr Mann said clearly the owners would have had an emotional attachment with the dog.

"These offences were committed when he was in a position of trust (being on a DTTO)."

He said there was clearly a pattern of offending which was related to his problem with drugs.

"There was full recovery but the initial upset of the dog owners cannot be overestimated I imagine."

Jailing Cochrane for six months Sheriff Neilson said the incident must have caused considerable distress to the owners of the puppy and given Cochrane’s record custody was the only option.

He was jailed for six months for the reset of the puppy and a further two months for the theft of the bicycle.

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