A man who was “offended by the smell of weed” impersonated a police officer in a “misguided” attempt to scare teenagers away from the drug.
Iain Wright told the 14 and 15-year-old that he was a police officer after he smelled cannabis on the High Street in Alness.
His solicitor told the court that his crime was simply an “attempt to put them on the right path”.
Wright, 28, appeared via videolink from custody at Tain Sheriff Court to admit impersonating a police officer as well as a charge of failing to appear at an earlier hearing.
Fiscal depute Naomi Duffy-Welsh told the court that the incident took place on October 3 2020.
Teens concerned by man’s police claims
She said that the two teenagers were outside the Co-op store when they encountered Wright.
“Mr Wright approached them and in essence informed the witnesses that he was a police officer,” she said.
She said his behaviour as he spoke to the teenagers concerned them enough that they reported the matter to the police.
The court was told there was no evidence to suggest the teenagers in question were involved in any wrongdoing.
Officers investigated and later cautioned and charged Wright.
Wright’s solicitor Maureen Duffy her client had acted in “a somewhat misguided community sense” after being affronted by a smell of cannabis.
‘Offended by the smell of weed’
She said: “He is particularly offended by the smell of weed. He smelled a cloud of weed.
“He believed that they perhaps were smoking weed and he thought that the only way to get them to stop and perhaps frighten them into doing so was to tell them he was a police officer.”
She added: “This was an ill-advised and rather stupid offence rather than one borne out of malice.”
Ms Duffy said her client recognised the difficulty his actions had placed him in and was “remorseful” for his actions.
Sheriff Gary Aitken told Wright: “Impersonating a police officer, whatever your reason, that was not a sensible thing to do.”
He placed Wright, of Kendal Crescent, Alness, on a community payback order requiring him to complete 60 hours of unpaid work in the community.