Row over wages led to thousands of pounds of damage to winch in Strathconon forest in Ross-shire, court told
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SENTENCE has been deferred again on a Borders man who caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to a winch in a forest at Strathconon claiming he was owed £400 by its owner.
Gary Wright (34) of Eaglesfield, Lockerbie admitted last month between December 17 and 20, 2018 maliciously damaging the winch at Achcorachan. Sentence was deferred for background reports and to establish how much the owner was left out of pocket.
Depute fiscal Niall Macdonald said the location of the offence was about 10 miles from Marybank accessible only via a dirt track.
He told Sheriff Ian Cruickshank there had been a falling out between Wright and the owner of the winch.
"The accused was of the view he was due wages from the owner amounting to £400."
The owner went to the locus a couple of days after the incident and found windows, fuel pipes and an ignition box were smashed. Suspicion fell on the accused who accepted he caused the damage estimated at £5000.
Sheriff Cruickshank said he would be minded to imposing a compensation order and he needed to find out if the owner of the winch was covered by insurance and what it had cost him to correct the damage.
Wright was due to be sentenced on Thursday but the cost of the damage hadn't been obtained.
Sheriff Cruickshank continued the case further until December 3.
