Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Flat occupants awoke to find intruder – and cops – in living room
The occupants of a flat woke up to find an intruder – and the police – in their living room after they managed to sleep through him kicking his way into their home, Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard on Monday.
The two witnesses had been enjoying an afternoon nap on the sofa when Daniel Weir turned up and set about breaking in.
The 33-year-old, who knew one of the occupants as his girlfriend’s brother, kicked a hole in the door before reaching in and opening the door, all while a stunned neighbour watched on through their peephole.
Hammer-wielding masked men stole cash register from Peterhead shop
Two hammer-wielding masked robbers snatched a till from a Peterhead mini-mart as the terrified shop worker hid in the back.
Steven McGee, 33, and James Vidgen, 36, burst into the Premier Express convenience store on Longate and shouted “where’s the money?”.
McGee was waving a hammer above his head and screaming threats, causing the worker to barricade himself in the stock room.
Fraserburgh men jailed for abducting and burning teen with red-hot iron
On Tuesday, two Fraserburgh men were jailed after they were found guilty of abducting and burning a 17-year-old boy with a red-hot iron during a party.
Jodie Forman, 33, and Bobby Hendry, 32, were convicted at Aberdeen Sheriff Court last month of the horrifying attack on the teen in July 2020.
Forman also faced a separate charge of stabbing a 21-year-old in the foot before searing his arm with a hot iron.
Five-times the limit drink-driver disqualified for 16 months
A man caught behind the wheel while more than five-times the drink-drive limit has been fined £1040 and banned from the roads for 16 months.
Leigh Hull had been visiting his mother-in-law on New Year’s Day when police officers spotted his car crawling along the A836 near Bettyhill.
The manner of his driving raised suspicions and he was stopped, breathalysed and found to be considerably over the limit.
Man jailed after cops find £16,000 cannabis haul in loft
An Aberdeen man has been jailed after police found more than £16,000 worth of cannabis in his loft.
Calum Scobbie, 29, was caught red-handed by police when they arrived at his home on an unrelated matter and found him hiding in the loft with a rucksack filled with the drug.
Scobbie’s solicitor told the court that his client was “just holding” the cannabis for someone else in relation to a drugs debt.
Dealer ‘duped’ by cocaine that was actually just paracetamol
A convicted drug dealer has been handed unpaid work after buying £5,000 of cocaine – that turned out to be paracetamol.
Stephen Burnside, a 40-year-old father of three of Esk Road, Inverness was ordered to carry out 227 hours and 15 minutes of unpaid community work by Sheriff Margaret Neilson.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard he had 72 hours and 45 minutes still to complete on a current order. The maximum total she can impose is 300 hours hence the odd figure.
Woman accused of endangering child with unnecessary operations
A woman is to go on trial accused of putting a young boy’s life in danger by making him go through operations he did not need.
Tracy Anne Menhinick is charged with wilfully ill-treating the child between April 2014 and July 2017 including at Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital in the city.
The youngster – who cannot be identified – was aged between three and six at the time.
Aberdeen man raped women in Inverurie and Banchory
An Aberdeen man has been handed an extended seven-year sentence after being found guilty of “forcing himself” on and raping two women.
Lewis Wallace raped his first victim in Inverurie in 2018 when he was just 17, before raping a second woman 16 months later in Banchory.
Wallace, now 21, also assaulted and sexually penetrated his first victim without consent on a separate occasion in a vehicle in Inverurie.
Restrictions placed on Fort Augustus paedophile to keep children safe
A Fort Augustus man who was snared by paedophile hunters posing as young girls has had a string of restrictions placed on him to prevent him from being a danger to children.
George Henderson, 63, appeared for sentence at Inverness Sheriff Court after admitting sexually communicating and sending indecent images to who he thought were young teenage girls in Scotland and England.
Henderson, of Abertarff Place, in the Loch Ness village, admitted three offences, involving the explicit messages and photographs he sent to three women posing as 13 and 14-year-old girls.
Dealer’s home raided after off-duty cop overheard cocaine offer in hotel
A drug dealer’s home was raided after an off-duty policeman overheard him attempting to make a sale in a hotel bar, Inverness Sheriff Court heard on Wednesday.
Darren Maclean, 39, offered to sell someone cocaine and told them there was more at his home if it was needed – totally oblivious that the officer was eavesdropping on his conversation.
The quick-thinking cop called his colleagues, who secured a warrant to search Maclean’s property, and they uncovered cannabis and cocaine worth almost £6,000.
Email abuser told ex he’d ‘rather she died than be in control’ of kids
A man sent an abusive email to his former partner in which he told her he’d “rather she died than be in control” of their children.
Christopher Lawrie, 33, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted sending an abusive email to his former partner in which he mocked her weight – telling her to go “buy yourself a flump, big girl”.
The email, which was read out in court, stated that Lawrie would “rather she died than be in control” of the couple’s kids.
Sex offender with indecent images of children caught by routine check
A registered sex offender was caught with indecent images and videos of children on his phone, as well as an undeclared Snapchat account under an alias.
Ryan Chlopuk was subject to routine police checks, which uncovered the images and account on his Huawei mobile phone.
He was subsequently arrested and told officers he was “not surprised” that he was being detained.
Drug-fuelled killer gets life for frenzied knife attack on grandmother
A violent drug user who sexually assaulted and murdered an Aberdeen grandmother in a frenzied knife attack was jailed for life today.
Crack cocaine-fuelled Norman Duncan stabbed Margaret Robertson, 54, at least 25 times during the fatal assault at a flat in Seaton’s Promenade Court.
A judge told Duncan: “This was a sustained and merciless attack inflicted upon a defenceless woman in her home.”
‘Covid-phobic’ man grew cannabis as he was scared to meet dealer
A “Covid-phobic” greenkeeper began growing his own cannabis in his mum’s house during lockdown because he was scared he’d catch the virus meeting a dealer.
Police raided Miles Burnett’s mum’s house in the village of Lumsden after receiving intelligence about cannabis cultivation and found four plants in a growing tent with lighting and an air filter.
The 24-year-old, who was also caught with cannabis resin at his address in Alford, was quick to take responsibility for the plants and explain they were for personal use.
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Smells like justice
A woman has been ordered to pay Semichem £23 in compensation after stealing wax melts from the Mastrick store.
Lisa McPhee, or Baxter, stole the items, which are similar to a candle and give off a pleasant aroma, from the Semichem branch on Greenfern Place in Mastrick on November 2 2020.
The 48-year-old pled guilty to a charge of shoplifting when she appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
John Ferrie, Baxter’s solicitor, said the wax melts were worth £23 and were not recovered.
Sword swiper nailed by DNA
A young Skye man who stole ornamental swords after breaking into a solicitor’s house in Wick was foiled by DNA he left behind.
Jordan McPhee, 22, admitted the theft, which occurred on July 30 2019, and was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid community work.
Wick Sheriff Court was told the alarm was raised by a neighbour who spotted a broken window at the house and contacted the police, who discovered that four swords were missing.
Serial attacker’s last chance
A man who shattered the tooth of his victim with a vicious punch has been warned he is on his “last chance” as he avoided a prison sentence.
Marc McKay, 27, attacked the man outside the Stead Inn in Aberdeenshire after calling the man “a grass”.
His victim had to pay £2,500 to get the tooth fixed as a result of the assault.
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Man terrified family
A man who terrorised a family and caused £2,500 of damage by throwing a child’s bike at a car has avoided a prison sentence.
Kieran Forsyth, 24, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted trashing his neighbour’s garden before picking up a child’s bike throwing it at the car.
Forsyth had moved into a new property in Inverurie just days before the outburst and did not know the family.
As well as damaging the bike he caused around £2,500 damage to the car.
Liverpool jailed for high-speed chase
A 27-year-old man who led police on a dangerous high-speed pursuit through Inverness has been jailed for eight months and banned from driving for two years.
Dale Cowley, who is from the Liverpool area but was described as of no fixed abode, appeared from custody at Inverness Sheriff Court today and pled guilty to a number of charges.
He admitted driving dangerously, driving while disqualified and attempting to pervert the course of justice by giving police a false name and date of birth and having fake number plates on the vehicle.
‘I did it for the shock factor’
A 23-year-old man who downloaded indecent images of children while on bail for a similar offence said he did it “for the shock factor”.
Zak Williamson, who lives in the village of Allanfearn, appeared for sentence at Inverness Sheriff Court having previously admitted the offences.
They were committed between May 13 2016 and March 17 2020, with the majority of the stills and videos accessed while Williamson was only 17.
Deviant diver’s goo and sweat request
A “deviant” Highland driving instructor who tried to recruit a 14-year-old babysitter to meet him in a hotel, stand in goo and rub her sweaty feet on his face, has been spared jail.
Michael Bramham, 44, was caught after police targeting child abuse placed an advert on Gumtree purporting to be from a schoolgirl offering babysitting services.
A woman cop posing as the girl was then contacted by Bramham.
Drunk dad fell asleep on daughter
A dad has appeared in court after drunkenly falling asleep on top of his distressed nine-year-old daughter, trapping her underneath him for an hour.
The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his children, had been looking after his daughter and her younger brother at the time of the incident.
He drank so much that he ended up falling asleep on top of the girl’s legs and could not be roused as the distressed youngsters frantically tried to wake him and lift him off.
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