A THIEF who preyed on the elderly and disabled and stole precious family heirlooms has been jailed for three years.

Peter MacMillan, 41, raided the homes of five vulnerable women in Dalneigh, Inverness, creating fear amongst other residents that they might be next.

He appeared on indictment at Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday and admitted the five offences, which included attempted theft by housebreaking and theft by housebreaking between May 9 and June 6 this year.

Sentencing MacMillan, Sheriff Margaret Neilson told him: "You have a bad record of crimes of dishonesty but these charges take your offending to a whole different level."