An Angus teenage tearaway booked himself into a popular tourist hotel and racked up a bill for hundreds of pounds.
Rory Starkey, now 20, helped himself to hundreds of pounds worth of accommodation during a three-night stay at the Fisher’s Hotel in Pitlochry.
Starkey, who had been freed on bail a fortnight earlier, left his room key in a box and fled without paying a penny of the £641.95 bill.
At Perth Sheriff Court, Starkey was jailed for five months after he admitted the fraud and the court was told he had made no effort to pay back what he owed.
Starkey, from Kirriemuir, admitted booking into the Perthshire hotel from July 27 to 30 last year and mounting up a bill for £641.95 when he had no intention of paying.
He had been granted bail from Forfar Sheriff Court less than two weeks earlier.
Depute fiscal Stuart Richardson told the court Starkey booked into the hotel and provided them with a bank card and his Young Scot card as identification.
He said: “Three days after he booked in staff checked the box where guests deposit keys after leaving. The keys were there and he had simply left without paying any money.”
When staff at the hotel where rooms cost from £69 per night tried to get money from the bank card he had given them they were unable to transfer any funds.
Solicitor Pauline Cullerton said Starkey had since been locked up for another offence and was behind bars.
She said he was prepared to pay back hotel, but Sheriff Fiona Tait said: “If this was a genuine mistake he has had ample opportunity to pay it back.”