Weekend court roll – a hen party sex assault and an upskirting voyeur

Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.

Teenage dealer caught with heroin and cannabis

A teenager who believed he was holding onto a friend’s cannabis for one night actually had a rucksack filled with heroin and cannabis worth £16,000.

Terry Flintoff was just 17 when police pulled over the car he was a passenger in after they received intelligence the vehicle was involved in drug dealing in the Mastrick area of Aberdeen.

The teenager’s backpack, which was smelling strongly of cannabis, was searched and found to contain large amounts of Class A and Class B drugs, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.

Flintoff, now 19, appeared in the dock to admit two charges of being concerned in the supply of drugs.

Ban for dangerous driver who injured teen

A dangerous driver who caused a crash that left a teenager seriously injured has been banned from the roads for 20 months.

Shaun Sloggie crashed his car during an overtaking manoeuvre on the A87 at Glen Shiel, colliding with a rock face and an oncoming vehicle, seriously injuring his 16-year-old passenger.

Sloggie was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work in the community by Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald, who told him: “You could have killed somebody.”

The 27-year-old appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court for sentencing having previously admitted a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving on September 11 2021.

Security firm partner ‘blanked’ red light

A security firm partner has been banned from driving after “blanking” a red light and knocking down an elderly woman at a pedestrian crossing.

George Douglas, 38, was going 40mph in a 30mph zone in a bid to overtake a bus on the A956 Ellon Road in Bridge of Don but failed to spot the traffic lights ahead at red.

A 66-year-old woman crossing on the green man was struck by Douglas’ silver Volkswagen Touran and left with serious injuries, including fractures and tendon damage.

Her injuries were so serious that a hospital-style bed had to be installed in her living room as she was unable to climb the stairs to her bedroom for more than a month.

Bondage session knife attack

A shop worker who slashed a woman’s buttock with a knife after hanging her from a hook during a bondage session has been ordered to do unpaid work.

Isaac Bunce carried out the assault at a property in Inverness in 2011 however tried to change his guilty plea when he appeared for sentencing today.

Sheriff Sara Matheson refused his request, saying it did not meet the criteria for the very rare occasions that a plea could be changed.

A 53-year-old, who was in a bondage and sadomasochism relationship with his victim, previously admitted slashing the woman’s buttock after tying her up, blindfolding and gagging her before hanging her from the hook.

Hen party dares ‘went too far’

A 60-year-old carer has been placed on the sex offender’s register after a game of dares during a hen party “went too far”.

Mum-of-four Angela Cumming thrust her hand into the boxer shorts of a 22-year-old stranger after being dared to “put an ice cube down the front of the nearest man’s trousers”.

Giving evidence during the sexual assault trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, her victim described how he was left “shocked, shaken and violated” by her actions.

After hearing from witnesses to the incident at College Bar in Aberdeen, Sheriff Margaret Hodge found Cumming guilty, saying while her actions were not for sexual gratification, they were sexual.

Trial postponed for woman accused of putting boy through operations

The trial of a woman accused of causing a child needless suffering through “unnecessary” operations has been postponed until next year due to missing medical records.

Tracy Anne Menhinick, a former auxiliary nurse, is facing one charge of wilful ill-treatment towards the boy between April 1 2014 and July 21 2017.

The child – who cannot be identified – was aged between three and six at the time.

The trial, which was due to begin on Wednesday of last week, is now postponed until early next year.

Man warned not to ‘take law into own hands’

A man has been warned he cannot take the law into his own hands after assaulting a reveller who he claims made a racist comment towards him.

Mohammed Iqbal had been in Aberdeen for a family wedding and was enjoying an evening in town the night before the ceremony.

But when another reveller passed them on Union Street and made a racist comment, the 23-year-old responded with violence.

Fiscal depute Andrew McMann told Aberdeen Sheriff Court Iqbal and a number of other wedding guests had travelled to Aberdeen on September 9 2021 and booked into the Douglas Hotel on Market Street.

Former Inverness prison guard sent to jail

A former Inverness prison officer has been jailed for 40 months over  “appalling” sex offences against a young girl who was so traumatised she was driven to the brink of suicide.

Melvin Walker was convicted by a jury of using lewd, indecent and libidinous practices towards the child, who was aged between 12 and 16 in the 1980s, as well as indecent assault.

The 78-year-old former RAF serviceman, who was working as a prison officer at HMP Inverness when the offences took place, was also placed on the sex offender’s register for an indefinite period.

Sheriff Sara Matheson told him: “You were convicted of appalling offences committed over a lengthy period of time which had an appalling effect on her.”

Thief walked into home where mum was putting child to bed

A thief walked into a family home and disturbed a mother as she put her child to bed, a court has heard.

Adam McQuarrie told the woman that the vehicle he was travelling in had broken down outside and needed fuel.

But when he left, the family discovered that £630 of garden tools had been taken.

McQuarrie, 30, appeared at Tain Sheriff Court to admit a single charge of theft in relation to the incident at Lamington, near Tain, on June 15 last year.

Racist’s sickening attack on Afghan refugees

A racist woman has admitted an unprovoked street attack on a group of refugees from Afghanistan.

Sarah Craig attacked two female strangers who had fled Afghanistan in search of safer, better lives in the UK.

The 38-year-old kicked and punched both women on the body and head in an the attack that took place outside a city centre hotel.

And she also repeatedly branded witnesses “monkeys”.

Four in court over cannabis farm at former Deeside hotel

Four men have appeared in court facing drug charges after a cannabis farm was discovered in an abandoned hotel in Aboyne.

Police officers uncovered a quantity of the Class B drug being grown at the old Huntly Arms Hotel, which had been vacant since 2019, on Monday morning.

Fabio Marku, 27, and Glevis Xhepa, 26, who are both of no fixed abode, appeared in the dock alongside Arjel Leshi, 24, and Donald Xhepa, 29, who both gave general addresses of Harrow, in Greater London.

Each of the men is facing identical charges of producing and supplying controlled drugs.

Dealers stashed drugs and cash in secluded Highland spots

A trio of Easter-Ross men were involved in a £650,000 drugs enterprise operating from secluded Highland “stash sites”.

Alasdair Finlayson, 26, Daniel Degan 32, and Cameron Ross, 22, were snared following a police operation on August 6 2020.

The gang stored drugs, equipment and cash at Fyrish, Munlochy and Glenglass, hidden under moss and vegetation.

Police kept tabs on leader Finlayson as well as Cameron Ross as they accessed the hidden hauls which were later seized.

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Stalker: ‘Don’t see me as some kind of crazy stalker’

A stalker who left a woman so unnerved and stressed that her hair fell out has blamed his actions on a “spiritual awakening”.

Stuart Rhind subjected his victim to six months of unwanted attention after claiming there was “an element of synchronicity” between them.

The 40-year-old, who never actually met the woman in person, stalked her via Instagram, phone and on one occasion even had a jumper delivered to her home address.

Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that his victim, a life coach, was left so stressed and alarmed by the total stranger’s actions that she had been left suffering anxiety and stress-related hair loss.

Man had £50,000 cannabis in suitcase

A man who was caught with £50,000 worth of cannabis in a suitcase only started selling the drug after losing his job, a court has heard.

David Newman, 30, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted possessing and supplying tens of thousands of pounds worth of cannabis after police turned up at his house with a search warrant.

Officers found a total of £60,000 of the drug in a suitcase, a holdall and around his home.

His solicitor Christopher Maitland told the court that Newman was aware there might be cannabis in the case but wasn’t sure how much.

Teen rapist carried out assault and robbery

A teenager who was locked up last year for the rape of a boy has avoided an increased sentence behind bars despite admitting to a brutal assault and robbery in Aberdeen.

Declan Morrison, also known as Brown, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted beating up the man who he had asked to meet in a lane to buy drugs.

He then stole his victim’s necklace before leaving the scene.

Morrison, now 19, was found guilty at a High Court trial in Aberdeen last year on charges that he raped one victim at a play park in the Sheddocksley area of Aberdeen in 2015 when both boys were 12.

Paedophile had 17 days’ worth of child abuse videos

A north-east man has been jailed after police caught him with almost 17 days’ worth of child sex abuse videos.

Jordan Gall, 27, was found in possession of nearly 7,000 indecent images of children and more than two weeks’ worth of video footage – most of which were in the worst category.

Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told that some of the video footage discovered on Gall’s mobile phone featured babies.

The total run time of the videos discovered was 16 days, 13 hours and 50 minutes.

Fake police officer ‘offended by the smell of weed’

A man who was “offended by the smell of weed” impersonated a police officer in a “misguided” attempt to scare teenagers away from the drug.

Iain Wright told the 14 and 15-year-old that he was a police officer after he smelled cannabis on the High Street in Alness.

His solicitor told the court that his crime was simply an “attempt to put them on the right path”.

Wright, 28, appeared via videolink from custody at Tain Sheriff Court to admit impersonating a police officer as well as a charge of failing to appear at an earlier hearing.

Card game sparks domestic abuse

A man violently assaulted his partner during a weekend away in Aberdeen when she refused to take part in a card game.

Stuart Goodwin appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted turning on his female partner when she didn’t want to play the drinking game.

The court heard that the 58-year-old punched and slapped the woman across the face a number of times during the altercation at the Station Hotel in Aberdeen.

When police arrived to arrest Goodwin he told officers: “Aye, I slapped her.”

‘Someone dies tonight’

A man told his ex “someone dies tonight”, then sent her a picture of himself holding a baseball bat.

Christopher Matthew sent the threatening message to his former partner despite being banned under bail conditions from contacting her.

Inverness Sheriff Court was told the messages, sent on September 22 2021, started out amicable but also said:  “Now I will go on the kill.”

The woman – who ended her five-year relationship with Matthew in 2019 – became so concerned that he would drive to her home and harm her that she reported him to police as a drink-driver.

Eight died when Cemfjord capsized ‘suddenly and violently’

A fatal accident inquiry into the death of eight seafarers who died when a cargo vessel capsized “suddenly and violently” off the Pentland Firth has concluded.

MV Cemfjord, a bulk cement carrier, was last recorded travelling west through the Pentland Firth, a stretch of sea between Orkney and the north Caithness coast, on the afternoon of January 2 2015.

It was last heard from at 3pm that day and its upturned hull was discovered by a Northlink ferry Hrossey the next day.

The captain of that ferry, Allan Scott, had delayed his own crossing due to poor weather that day and had it not been for that decision he might never have made the grim discovery, the inquiry at Wick Sheriff Court heard.

Man accused of Aberdeen woman’s murder

A man has appeared in court charged with the murder of a woman who was found dead at a flat in Aberdeen.

The body of Jacqueline Kerr was discovered at a property on Sunnyside Road on Monday.

The 54-year-old was discovered when police broke down the door amid concerns for her welfare.

A man was arrested hours later outside Scotstown Primary School in Bridge of Don.

Firm fined £80,000 after man dies following electrical explosion

An Inverness firm has been fined £80,000 after an asbestos surveyor suffered horrific burns and died following an electrical explosion at an energy park on the Cromarty Firth.

Christopher Earley, 64, was inspecting buildings earmarked for demolition at the Port of Nigg, which is operated by Global Energy Group, when he opened a live switchpanel resulting in the electrical “flashover”.

Mr Earley, the director of CWE Asbestos Consultants Ltd, was seen emerging from the smoking building and removing his smouldering clothes to reveal serious burns to a third of his body.

The married father-of-four, from Elgin, was airlifted to hospital following the incident, which happened on December 10 2020, but died three months later.

Man who was throttling partner had to be dragged off her by police

Police walked in on a Peterhead man as he was throttling his ex-girlfriend on the ground.

David Dickson, 23, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted lunging at the woman, shoving her onto the floor in a bedroom at the property before climbing on top of her and placing his hands around her neck.

Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told the woman’s friends heard her desperate pleas for help and tried to barge into the room.

Police then arrived and witnessed Dickson knelt on top of the woman with his hands around her throat.

Paedophile and upskirting voyeur avoids jail

A sheriff has decided against jailing a voyeur who secretly filmed up the skirts of fellow university students and used night vision technology to spy on children.

University of the Highlands and Islands computer science student Iain Grant also had a stash of videos featuring a woman who he had followed on foot on a number of occasions and discreetly filmed without her knowledge.

Sentencing had been deferred on the 46-year-old Muir of Ord man after Sheriff Sara Matheson call for reports.

When he appeared again at Inverness Sheriff Court this week, defence solicitor advocate Clare Russell said he made comments in the report which concerned her and would concern the sheriff.

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Hammer-wielding teen in Union Square

A hammer-wielding teenager who chased a man into an Aberdeen shopping centre was chased out by members of the public.

Jay Jamieson, 19, followed the stranger into Union Square after he challenged him over having previously brandished a hammer at a different man on Guild Street.

Fiscal depute David Rogers said the incident happened at around 7.35pm on September 6 last year.

“He was observed acting aggressively towards another male and offering to fight him, which the man declined,” Mr Rogers said.

Man told Scottish Tory leader to end his ‘petty existence’

A Moray man has admitted sending a threatening email to Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross in which he branded him a “useless fud” and told him to “end his petty existence”.

Mark Edwards also called the Moray MP a  “f****** bufty” and told him “the entire planet” would be better off without him, Elgin Sheriff Court was told.

After police arrested and charged him, the 50-year-old apologised and said he was sorry for making the remarks.

Fiscal depute Shamielah Ghafar told the court Edwards sent the email at 1.45am on November 28 last year.

Five men in court following  crackdown on organised crime

Five men have appeared in court after a series of raids aimed at cracking down on organised crime in Aberdeen.

Darren Duncan, 38, Eythan Eite, 23, Sean Laverton, 34, James Moir, 35, and Andrew Wills, 29, each faced two charges of being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs.

All five accused are from the Aberdeen area.

Appearing in private at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, each of the men made no plea or declaration and was released on bail.

Paedophile hunters snared man who asked decoys about their bras

Paedophile hunters posed as a delivery driver to snare a Moray man on his doorstep after he started sexualised online chats with two decoys.

David Penney, 56, thought he was chatting to girls as young as 13 but was actually communicating with adult volunteers working with online groups who expose offenders.

After pretending to be delivery drivers in order to get him to open the door of his Keith home the volunteers passed the information on to police – who Penney had already called to get rid of the paedophile hunters on his doorstep.

Penney appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit two charges of causing persons pretending to be underage girls to receive sexual communications.

Teenager grabbed knife from deli counter

Terrified Aberdeen shop staff had to remove a knife from a teenager during an argument after he helped himself to the weapon from the deli counter.

Ty Hyland, 19,  was arguing with another man during the early morning fallout in a city centre Premier store when he grabbed the serrated knife.

Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told how staff at the Union Street convenience store witnessed the drama unfold at 5am on February 6 last year.

Fiscal depute David Rogers said two people were working in the shop at the time and overheard an argument in the till area.

Brenda Page murder trial expected to last 10 days

A trial of an 82-year-old man accused of murdering his former wife at a flat in Aberdeen more than four decades ago is anticipated to last 10 days, a court heard today.

Christopher Harrisson has denied committing the murder of Brenda Page, 32, at the property in the city’s Allan Street on July 14 in 1978.

He is alleged to have repeatedly struck her on the head and body with a blunt implement or implements and otherwise caused blunt force injuries to her head and body.

Harrisson, of Aberdeen, also faces further charges of assault, breach of the peace and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

Man guilty of inflicting ‘extremely severe’ injuries on toddler

A Peterhead man has been found guilty of inflicting “extremely severe” injuries to a toddler that left the child with serious head trauma.

Robert Wilson, 27, was convicted of severely wounding and wilfully neglecting the young boy, leaving him with dozens of injuries and bruising that were consistent with “shaken baby”.

The alarm was raised by medical experts who examined the child and found 51 separate injuries.

Doctors described the injuries sustained by the child as “extremely severe”.

Pensioner, 85, groped hairdresser

A pensioner has been placed on the sex offender’s register after a bizarre incident where he presented a hairdresser with a bag of tomatoes before groping her breasts.

James MacDonald, 85, grabbed the woman in the middle of the salon in an assault which left her feeling “violated and physically sick”, Elgin Sheriff Court was told.

Fiscal depute Shamielah Ghafar said the incident occurred on either August 4 or 5 last year when MacDonald walked into the business and was told he didn’t have an appointment there until the following week.

“The accused replied that he had come to see her,” Miss Ghafar said. “The complainer said he was very focused on only her.”

Aberdeen rapist preyed on sleeping women

A repeat rapist was jailed for eight years after carrying out sex attacks on sleeping women during a catalogue of offending.

Daniel Malone, 32, preyed on three victims at addresses in Aberdeen and Dysart, in Fife.

Malone, a prisoner, had earlier denied a series of charges during a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh but was convicted of rapes and sexual assaults on the women.

He returned to the same court today where judge Alison Stirling ruled that he should serve a further three-year period when he will be supervised and under licence following the custodial sentence.

Notorious kidnapper gets open-ended prison sentence

A high-risk sex offender who abducted a north-east papergirl and continued to carry out crimes inside prison has been given an indeterminate jail sentence – meaning he may never be freed.

James Murison, 60, was originally jailed in 2007 for abducting and attempting to rape the 14-year-old who he forced into his Huntly home.

He trussed up the child victim and assaulted her before police arrived to free her after neighbours heard her screams.

During his subsequent prison sentence, Murison paraded around naked in jail, indecently assaulted a woman officer and exposed himself in front of other female staff with a smirk on his face.

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