Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Jail after man ignores curfew
On Monday we told how a man who trashed equipment used to monitor his court-imposed curfew had his previous sentence overturned and get sent to prison instead.
Pawel Czerwinski had only narrowly avoided going to jail back in August when he appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court after causing nearly £90,000 of damage and costs to a homeless unit and being found in possession of a homemade stun gun.
The 34-year-old ripped a sprinkler off the roof in his temporary accommodation, setting off the whole system and leaving five flats uninhabitable.
Grandfather can sue council after cancer diagnosis
A grandfather who claims exposure to asbestos at work left him with terminal cancer is being allowed to sue Moray Council.
John Kelman is seeking compensation from the local authority, which he worked for 40 years ago, after being diagnosed with debilitating mesothelioma in March 2019.
The grandfather-of-four believes he developed the condition through exposure to asbestos while working with large storage heaters in council houses between 1980 and 1984.
The Court of Session heard how the father-of-two has been told his cancer diagnosis is terminal.
Man in dock over alleged break-in
A man has appeared in court charged in connection with a break-in and theft at an Aberdeen flat just days before Christmas.
Police received a report of a theft and break-in at a property in Aulton Court, in the Seaton area of Aberdeen, on Thursday evening, December 23.
And now John Fargher, 39, has appeared in private at Aberdeen Sheriff Court facing a string of charges over the matter.
Ungrateful husband
A husband was so unhappy with his wife’s Christmas present he threw it in the bin and shouted and swore at her.
Inverness Sheriff Court was told that the Christmas Day dispute occurred in the evening after 54-year-old Ian Campbell, of Burns Crescent, Dingwall, had spent most of the day drinking.
Defence solicitor advocate Neil Wilson told Sheriff Ian Cruickshank that his client, who provides technical services to the police and ambulance, had drunk alcohol for the first time in a year.
Fishermen’s deaths could have been avoided
The deaths of two fishermen who drowned after their boat sank on the west coast could have been avoided had the boat not been “intrinsically unstable”, a sheriff ruled on Tuesday.
Przemyslaw Krawczyk and Duncan MacDougall both died when the fishing boat they were working on, the Nancy Glen, capsized and sank in Loch Fyne on January 18, 2018.
The horror demise of the prawn trawler happened on its final trawl of the day near her home port of Tarbert and just over a mile north-east of Barmore Island.
Drink-driver hit car at traffic lights
On Wednesday we told how a former warehouse worker who ploughed into a car at a red light was found to be nearly five times the drink-drive limit.
Sylwester Lis, 41, was banned from the roads after he smashed into the stationary vehicle in Aberdeen city centre on October 24 this year.
He was discovered to be over the limit when the owner of the car he struck smelled alcohol on his breath and called the police.
Teacher accused of assault can be named
An Aberdeen teacher accused of assaulting a pupil has been allowed to be named – despite a legal bid to ban his identification.
Alan McCartney, a teacher at an Aberdeen school, is alleged to have assaulted the child by striking him on the head last year.
The 51-year-old denies the charge against him.
Man accused of assaults on bar staff
On Thursday, a man accused of attacking bar staff and exposing himself to police was remanded in custody following a number of alleged incidents in Aberdeen city centre.
Dad-of-one Thomas Collins appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court facing allegations that he assaulted several staff at Wilson’s Sports Bar on Wednesday night.
The 36-year-old is accused of attacking three workers – including claims he bit one woman.
Perv dodges jail
A pervert caught with naked pictures of a 12-year-old girl, and who requested a 15-year-old send him a topless selfie, has dodged a jail sentence.
Aaron Gunn, 21, had 42 indecent images of children across three different devices when police raided his home.
Among those 42, which were of children in erotic poses but no sexual activity, were nine naked pictures sent to Gunn by a 12-year-old girl.
Strip club rammy
An Inverness dad who punched a bouncer in the face as he was thrown out of a strip club had been mixing medication and alcohol following a family bereavement.
Ryan Hempkin came to the attention of security staff at Inverness’ Private Eyes on November 8 this year and he was told to leave due to his behaviour.
But the dad-of-two resisted both that ejection and further attempts to restrain him by police, Inverness Sheriff Court was told.
Fiscal depute Ruraidh Allison said the 28-year-old “lashed out and punched the steward on the face”.
Christmas drink-driver
A father-of-five who was returning from a Christmas shopping trip has been banned from the roads after he was found to be nearly four times the drink-drive limit.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard how John Gerrard, 40, went to buy Christmas presents for his kids before stopping off at a friend’s house for a drink on December 7 this year.
He was later pulled over by police when his car clipped a central island reservation.
The 40-year-old was tested by officers and found to be nearly four times the drink-drive limit.
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