Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Danger driver’s dangerous car
A dangerous driver was clocked doing 104mph on the A90 – with threadbare tyres, a cracked windscreen and both airbags hanging out.
Edvin Korzov’s car was “barely fit to be driven” and had faulty brakes when he jumped in and sped along the A90 well above the speed limit of 70mph.
Police officers spotted him near Foveran and quickly pulled him over, only to discover the poor condition of his vehicle.
Sheriff not amused
A man who assaulted his ex-partner after she smeared ice cream on his door had to be warned by a sheriff the matter was “not funny”.
Shaun Rose had just broken up with the woman when she smeared the frozen dessert on a communal door at his home on Skene Street in Aberdeen.
When she also began to move miniature statuettes around the garden area, the 44-year-old “saw red” and went to confront her, pushing and struggling with her.
Inquiry into worker’s death
A quarry worker was crushed to death when his colleague accidentally touched a joystick in a digger, causing its boom and dipper arm to move and strike him, an inquiry has heard.
Pawel Kocik, 34, was fatally wounded at Leiths (Scotland) Ltd’s Kishorn Quarry, near Lochcarron in Wester Ross on May 17 2017.
He had been helping a colleague with the setup of a rock crusher that required the rear and side panels of its feed hopper to be lifted and fixed into place.
BMX bandit spared jail
A man who pulled a knife and demanded money from two women before making his getaway on a BMX has been spared jail.
Jack Ogilvy, 20, called at one of his victim’s homes and demanded payment of debts from the two women, who insisted they owed him nothing.
When they managed to force him from the property and call the police, he made his escape on a black BMX bike.
Child groomer brought to justice
A man who groomed children more than two decades ago has finally been brought to justice.
Norman Phimister, 69, targeted two girls when they were aged between nine and 11 from 1999 to 2002.
A trial last month heard from both victims, who described how Phimister began his campaign of abuse by walking around in their presence wearing an unfastened dressing gown with no clothes underneath.
Man banned for horror crash
A man has been banned from driving after causing a horror crash that left a biker with an open arm fracture and shattered elbow.
Oskar Boniowski smashed into the motorcyclist on the A947 near King Edward after failing to adjust his driving for the wet conditions.
The 29-year-old hadn’t noticed a car in front had slowed down to turn and swerved to avoid it – but ploughed into the motorbike instead.
Hogmanay housebreaker
Hogmanay housebreaker has been jailed for almost two years after stealing and crashing a £46,000 Jaguar.
Daniel Weir, who was also under the influence of both alcohol and drugs during the ill-thought-out crime spree, cowered behind a jumper as he was led to a prison van in handcuffs.
The 34-year-old clambered into a flat on Holburn Road in Aberdeen through a bedroom window while the occupants were out to celebrate the new year.
City centre attack
A man had to have a titanium plate inserted into his jaw after being set upon by a group of youths he’d teased about their hair.
The male had approached a group of teens on the roof garden of the St Nicholas Centre before teasing and goading them.
Despite onlookers’ efforts to calm the situation down, the incident escalated until two of the teens, who cannot be named due to their age, rained kicks, stamps and punches on the man as he lay on the ground.
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Unpaid work for man who grabbed police officer’s crotch
A man who grabbed a police officer between the legs and called her colleague a homophobic slur has been handed unpaid work.
When Colin Reid refused to put down a beer bottle at the request of officers there was a struggle.
Reid spat in the face of one, calling him a “p**f” and a “p*****r*, then grabbed his female colleague between the legs and refused to let go.
Teen had knife in graveyard
A man has been handed unpaid work after being caught on CCTV showing off a large knife in an Aberdeen city centre graveyard.
Jordyn Lepkowski, also known as Dylan, was spotted lifting his shirt to show others the frightening weapon stashed in his waistband.
Officers were alerted and quickly traced, detained and searched the 18-year-old, but found no sign of the blade.
Homeless man committed crime to get roof over his head
A homeless man who brazenly shoplifted alcohol before vandalising a cashpoint outside the store intentionally drew police attention to secure accommodation, a court has heard.
Arkadiusz Ladcki, 49, picked up cans of alcohol from a shelf in the Spar Store and began to drink one in front of the shop staff.
When they told him to stop, he left without paying, before launching an attack on the ATM with a dog lead.
15-month crime spree
A homeless man embarked on a 15-month-long crime spree across Inverness to fund his drug addiction, a court has heard.
Liam Macdonald admitted all the offences, including three charges of fraud, two of theft, four of shoplifting and one bail breach.
He appeared by video link at Inverness Sheriff Court after being remanded in custody last week.
Ronan Keating fan in court
An aggressive man left an Aberdeen hotel manager in tears after she complained about loud Ronan Keating music.
Alan Henry marched into the Express by Holiday Inn on Chapel Street to remonstrate with the woman after she called the police about the deafening volume of the Irish singer’s songs.
The 50-year-old demanded to know why she had called the police and threatened to come back and “get” her.
2,000 chickens starved to death
Two thousand chickens died from a lack of food and water and others were devoured by pigs at a Caithness farm, a court has been told.
Peter Armitage, 41, a former director of Caithness Free Range Eggs Ltd, and 24-year-old former employee Kyle Mackay appeared at Wick Sheriff Court.
The pair were charged with offences that occurred between December 1 2016 and November 13 2017.
Both pled guilty to causing approximately 2,000 adult hens unnecessary suffering.
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Every day our reporters are sitting in courtrooms around the area and now you can get their stories sent directly to you, five days a week.
Man guilty of sexual assault
A man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a teenager in an Inverness alleyway.
Adriano Leo Mouzinho, 39, seized the woman by the wrists and thrust his body against hers while making moaning noises.
He then tried to put his hands down her trousers but she managed to fend him off and get away.
Revenge porn man scared of cameras
An Aberdeen man who threatened to publicly post intimate videos of a former partner tried to hide his face from our photographer as he left court.
Liam Fraser told an ex-girlfriend he would upload videos he had secretly recorded of the couple to the internet when the woman moved on to a new relationship.
He sent her a video of them having sex and told her: “You’ve had your chance, these are getting posted”.
Former girls’ football coach on sex charges
The former head coach of a girls’ football club has appeared in court on charges of sexual offences against a child.
Lee Murray was arrested by police on the Dalcross Industrial Estate, near Inverness Airport, on Tuesday afternoon.
The 51-year-old was taken away by officers in connection with an alleged breach of bail conditions.
But he was subsequently charged under the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009.
Ex-Dons star guilty of assaulting fan
Former Aberdeen player Funso Ojo has been fined £420 after he assaulted a Dundee United fan who goaded him about getting sent off at Tannadice.
Ojo pushed Donald Dewar and knocked the glasses off before punching him in self-defence during the confrontation in a players’ stairwell at the stadium.
The 31-year-old stood trial at Dundee Justice of the Peace Court today accused of injuring Mr Dewar by assaulting him.
‘Bravado’ led to homophobic taunts
An apprentice electrician has received his first criminal conviction after a late-night drunken and homophobic taunt to police officers.
Bradley Martin had been out drinking with a group of friends when they came across two officers at around 2am on February 6.
The group began “jeering” towards the officers, but Martin, 22, then took things a step further and shouted a foul-mouthed, homophobic taunt.
Teen tagged for trashing taxi
An Aberdeen teenager who smashed up a taxi windscreen with garden furniture because he was unable to pay his fare has been electronically tagged.
Brandon Phillips, 19, had taken a return journey through Aberdeen and handed over his mobile phone to the driver on the understanding he would ultimately pay the cab fare.
However, when the taxi driver returned Phillips to his home address he was unable to foot the bill and used his jacket as payment.
Man cupped council worker’s breasts
A man who cupped a council worker’s breasts then told her “they needed lifted up” has been found guilty of sexual assault.
David Woodcock, 56, was “intoxicated” and claimed he had unintentionally made contact with her while gesturing at a property in Strathspey.
However, Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald found him guilty of the offence after a short trial.
A96 crash tragedy trial begins
A survivor of a fatal A96 crash that claimed the lives of five people, including his wife, told a court today that the vehicle he was travelling in was on the wrong side of the road.
Francesco Patane was a front seat passenger in a minibus being driven by Alfredo Ciociola as they travelled with their wives and the driver’s two young sons towards Inverness on a touring holiday of Scotland.
Ciociola. 50, is standing trial at the High Court in Edinburgh accused of death by dangerous driving.
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