A drugged-up man clambered across roofs before falling into a couple’s garden and attempting to open their back door.
Alan Munro was spotted on CCTV on the couple’s property after they were alerted to his presence by a loud noise followed by the sound of someone trying their patio doors.
The pair then watched him climb back onto their shed roof, where he remained stuck until police arrived and helped him down.
Munro, 49, appeared before Inverness Sheriff Court to plead guilty to a charge of threatening or abusive behaviour by entering into the garden of the address, climbing on rooftops and attempting to open doors.
Fiscal depute Emma MacEwan told the court the incident happened around 11.40pm on February 19 of this year.
‘A loud noise from their garden’
She said: “The witnesses were within their home and about to go to bed. At this time the couple heard a loud noise from their rear garden and immediately after that a noise at their rear patio door.”
When the pair checked their CCTV system they saw Munro in their garden and watched as he used a garden tool to help him climb back onto their shed roof.
“Once on the roof the accused appeared to be stuck and unable to get down safely,” Ms MacEwan said.
Police were called and helped Munro down before arresting him.
Solicitor Neil Wilson, for Munro, said his client had been abusing amphetamine at the time of the offence.
“On the night in question he was plainly under the influence of the substance,” he said.
Drugged-up man clambered across roofs to ‘feel safe’
Mr Wilson explained that Munro was afraid to return to his homeless accommodation because “he was in fear of certain individuals”.
He said his client had been assaulted earlier in the day and had told police officers that he had been making his way between rooftops because “it made him feel safe”.
He said that on CCTV Munro could be seen falling into the garden, and had tried the patio doors in an attempt to find a way out.
Calling for a criminal justice social work report, Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald said: ” It is very odd behaviour and obviously distressing for the householders.”
She deferred sentence until next month for the production of the report.
