A man jailed for a year for stalking a waitress has launched an appeal against his sentence.
Marcin Raczko, 30, had denied the offence but was found guilty by Sheriff Margaret Neilson after a trial at Inverness Sheriff Court in July.
Raczko had attempted to appeal both his conviction and his sentence, but was only granted permission to appeal his sentence.
His case will call at the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh on Tuesday.
At the time of his conviction, Sheriff Neilson told Raczko: “Given your record, the breaches of orders and the nature of the offences, there is no alternative but a custodial sentence.”
He was jailed for eight months for the stalking and two months each for the breaches, to be served consecutively.
Victim Natalia Winiarczyk, 31, of Inverness, gave evidence that she was working at Lorimer’s Cafe in the city centre when she noticed Raczko standing a short distance away, watching her.
She told the court: “He was staring at me and it made me feel very nervous. I didn’t know him but I had seen him before. He knew where I lived and would often stand outside my house.
“He was there for about half an hour watching me. I was very distressed when I finished work and I reported it to the police. I went home and when I got there he was standing across the street from my house when I went in the front door.
“I had to wait there for an hour and a half until I had calmed myself down. He wasn’t there when I went out to collect my daughter from nursery.”
CCTV footage showed Raczko standing between a KFC branch and Lorimer’s staring in the direction of the cafe before moving away towards the exit door, where he again stood for a few minutes before moving.
Raczko denied staring and insisted he was just wondering around. He said he had seen his victim before and admitted walking past her house.
The offence happened in May.
At the time, Raczko also appeared on two breaches of community payback orders, imposed last year for frightening a woman by sending her a text message and being abusive and threatening towards his mother.
These offences happened in August and October last year.
