Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Extortionist who blackmailed married lover could be jailed
A Macduff woman who was spared jail after blackmailing her married lover could be locked up for not doing the unpaid work that she was ordered to carry out as her punishment.
Laura Chapman had a brief relationship with the married captain of a boat that regularly docked in Macduff.
But she later threatened to reveal the pair’s naughty messages to each other with the man’s wife.
When he ended their fling, the 36-year-old became upset and demanded various sums of cash to buy her silence.
Man’s dog ban doubled – told he can have a budgie though
A Banff man who broke his five-year ban on keeping dogs has had it doubled to 10 years – but he’s allowed to have a budgie instead, a sheriff told him.
Kieran White, 41, failed to take seriously the control order slapped on him after his brown and white Staffordshire bull terrier, called Max, went on a “biting spree”.
Max attacked three other dog owners and their pets on three separate occasions before he was then placed into the care of White’s mother.
But Max then carried out another attack and White defied his ban by taking back control of the dangerous dog.
Knife-wielding man chased ex while carrying child
A knife-wielding man has been locked up for threatening and chasing his ex-partner and charging at police – all while holding a young child.
Aurimas Samalkis flew into a violent rage when his his partner of four years, who had just broken up with him, began to quiz him about his alcohol consumption.
And when the terrified woman phoned her family for help, the 39-year-old held a knife to her throat and demanded she call them back and tell them not to phone the police.
But police did arrive Samalkis could not be calmed down, charging at officers and chasing his ex while he held the blade and a small child.
Boy, 15, charged with alleged murder of man after ‘disturbance’ at home
A teenager has appeared in court charged with the alleged murder of a man who died after a “disturbance” at a home in Alness.
The boy, aged 15, was arrested by police after they were called to an address in Milnafua, Alness, around 12.30am on Saturday June 17.
Other emergency services also raced to the scene, where a 48-year-old man – named locally as Scott Mitchell – was pronounced dead.
Dozens of tributes have been posted on Mr Mitchell’s Facebook profile since news of his death has spread.
On Monday, the teenager appeared in private at Inverness Sheriff Court where he made no plea, was committed for further examination and released on bail.
No jail for guesthouse owner who filmed women undressing
A guesthouse owner who used a spy camera alarm clock to secretly record women undressing has avoided a jail sentence.
Liam Elliott of Union Street, Larkhall in Lanarkshire, previously pled guilty to three charges.
They included voyeurism and two sex offences relating to his unauthorised possession of a sex video, between May 1 2019 and September 30 2020.
Inverness Sheriff Court was told that police raided a property in Keith after receiving intelligence that the occupier had indecent images of children.
Man made threats against a CAT during girlfriend row
A self-employed joiner made threats against a cat during a drunken row with his girlfriend in Dornoch.
Bryan Urquhart, 42, had been drinking when he argued with his partner of four years on a night out and then returned home alone.
When the pair were later reunited at their shared home, he became abusive towards her.
Urquhart told the woman: “Get out of my house”. Then he made threats against the cat, Tain Sheriff Court was told.
Man dealt drugs through his letterbox
A man has admitted dealing drugs through his letterbox in an Aberdeen high-rise.
Steven Geddes became involved after allowing another man to stay at his home in Beachview Court and deal cannabis there.
However, when arrested, the 49-year-old confessed to officers that he had “assisted” on occasion by putting packages of cannabis through his letterbox.
Fiscal depute David Ballock told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that police attended Geddes’ home around 3.30pm on June 21 last year.
Mum jailed for smothering baby boy to death
A mum who smothered her baby boy to death with clingfilm in Fraserburgh has been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison.
Ineta Dzinguviene placed the wrap over the nose and mouth of her son Paulius Dzingus hours after he was born in Fraserburgh on April 12 2010.
The 38-year-old was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on Tuesday.
She had previously pled guilty to a charge of culpable homicide based on diminished responsibility at a hearing in Edinburgh.
In 2011, Dzinguviene was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 15 years in jail after being found guilty murdering Paulius.
But the conviction was later quashed by appeal judges, following fresh evidence over her state of mind, which emerged after psychotherapy work while in Cornton Vale prison in Stirlingshire.
A fresh prosecution was allowed before Dzinguviene pled guilty to the reduced charge last month.
Tourist’s foot ‘slipped’ onto accelerator – causing lorry to overturn
A Dutch tourist’s foot “slipped off” his brake onto the accelerator, thrusting his car into an oncoming lorry that overturned on the A9.
Vincentius Arentz, 53, from Lengel in the Netherlands, caused the two-vehicle crash at the Granish junction near Aviemore, around 6.10pm on Monday June 19.
The DAF lorry, which was driven by a 46-year-old, spun around before falling on its side – causing the road to be closed for more than 10 hours.
Arentz tried to help the injured lorry driver, who was later taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness by ambulance, while the holidaymaker was treated at the scene.
Man poked head through neighbour’s floor to moan about noise
Leslie Robertson broke through his ceiling using a broom and then forced his head and hands through the gap to hurl abuse at his horrified neighbour.
The 43-year-old caused over £2,000 of damage to his council flat during the violent outburst on the evening of November 18 last year.
He’d previously made a series of complaints about noise during the eight years that he had lived below the woman, Elgin Sheriff Court was told.
And the pair’s bickering came to a head when Robertson’s furious face appeared through the floor of the woman’s home on Morriston Road, Elgin.
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Aberdeen men in court after £105,000 drugs haul
Four men have appeared in court after £105,000 worth of drugs were allegedly seized by police during a raid on a property in Aberdeen.
Officers found cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin during a police search of the home at Waulkmill Crescent on Monday June 19.
Now, four men have all appeared in private at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, charged in connection with the drugs haul.
Disgraced man claimed he was a ‘paedophile hunter’
A man who was caught with indecent videos of children as young as one year old claimed he was a paedophile hunter inspired by a TikTok video.
Sick videos classed as Category A – the most severe kind – that featured children aged between one and 14 years old were discovered on Iain Kenneth’s mobile phone.
He was caught with them on the device when police raided his home at the time after receiving a tip-off about his internet activity.
But the 66-year-old told officers: “I’m really not what you think. I got this idea in my head, I saw some TikTok videos about people that hunt paedophiles”.
Quad bike thief left DNA on discarded balaclava
A quad bike thief was caught when police found his DNA on a balaclava he left behind at one of the north-east farms he targeted.
Steven Dunlop stole no fewer than three pricey farm vehicles but was brought to justice after investigators linked him with one of the crime scenes.
The 24-year-old, along with an accomplice, visited three different farms across the region and stole quad bikes worth more than £10,000 in total.
But Dunlop blew his cover when he accidentally left his mask behind at one of the sites.
Man jailed over £11,000 of drugs hidden near public footpath
A Merseyside man who handled loads of drugs that were found stashed in a glass jar and hidden near a public footpath has been jailed.
Police found Ciaran Hunter’s DNA all over packages of heroin and cocaine that had been hidden by the path, which was accessible via a car park off Stoneywood Brae, Aberdeen.
The drugs – worth more than £11,000 altogether – were concealed in the jar, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
In September 2021, police received intelligence that Liverpudlian males were storing drugs in the area.
Cruel dog owner should have received lifetime animal ban, SSPCA says
An irresponsible dog owner whose pet endured “immense suffering” should have been given a lifetime ban on keeping animals, the SSPCA has suggested.
Luke Kildare, 40, chose not to take 18-week-old puppy Fatty to a vet for more than two hours after a car hit his German shepherd crossbreed.
He told the Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) that he “couldn’t afford” to get medical help for the injured animal, which “howled in pain”.
Kildare, an unemployed chef from Macduff who is currently in prison, admitted to a single charge of causing an animal unnecessary suffering and was fined £790.
But now, the SSPCA inspector who seized Fatty from his home and took him to get emergency treatment has criticised the court’s sentence.
Guilty: Solicitor swindled dementia patient
An Aberdeen solicitor has been found guilty of embezzling £120,000 from an elderly client who lived in a nursing home with dementia.
John Sinclair, a former partner at James and George Collie Solicitors in Aberdeen, had denied taking large sums of money from bank accounts belonging to 90-year-old former university lecturer Dr Doreen Milne.
The 69-year-old lawyer had been granted power of attorney over the retired doctor’s finances, following her dementia diagnosis in 2014.
During a trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, Sinclair also refuted the allegation that he had repeatedly deleted computer entries to cover his tracks and defeat the ends of justice.
But it took a jury of nine women and five men less than two hours to convict Sinclair on both charges.
Drunk boy crashed stolen car
A 16-year-old boy took his friends on a joyride around Forres in a car that he stole and then crashed into another vehicle.
The teenager, who is now 17, had driven at speed and gone the wrong way over a roundabout before the collision.
As smoke and airbags hissed around him, the boy – who cannot be named for legal reasons – fled the scene but he was eventually traced by police officers.
The teenager then failed a roadside breath test for alcohol but later sobered up enough to pass another one at the police station the following morning, after being released from the hospital.
Embezzler helped herself to £3,000 from Wester Ross hotel
An embezzler who helped herself to over £3,000 from a Wester Ross hotel lied about her age and pretended to be someone else when police caught her.
Marian Aitkenhead, who was actually in her late 50s, told officers that she was just 36 years old and claimed to be someone else.
She gave them a false name and knocked a couple of decades off her age when she was questioned by police.
Aitkenhead, now aged 61, was living at Glaik Cottage, Balmacara at the time of her crime.
Driver broke woman’s neck and ribs in ‘almost head-on’ A9 crash
A dangerous driver who turned into the path of an oncoming car at a junction of the A9 left the other motorist with a broken neck, sternum and ribs.
Emma Baillie’s Ford Fiesta hit the oncoming Volkswagen Golf “almost head-on” as she entered the southbound carriageway of the trunk road at its junction with the A95.
Baillie shattered her wrist in two places during the crash, which happened around 3pm on December 28 2021.
She has since appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court and pled guilty to a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Street attackers escape punishment and won’t even have criminal records
Three young men who drunkenly kicked, punched and stamped on a man on Aberdeen’s Union Street have been let off – for the sake of their careers.
Bryan Gibson, 22, Michael Stenhouse, 21, and Samuel Tinning, 22, all pled guilty to assaulting their victim following a night out drinking.
But the men’s defence solicitors claimed their clients had been provoked and said a criminal conviction would disproportionately impact their careers.
The sheriff in the case then took the unusual step of granting the offenders an absolute discharge.
It means – despite pleading guilty to the offence – it’s not counted as a conviction, the men did not receive criminal records and they weren’t even punished for what they did.
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Drunken thief raided holiday lets
Renatas Simaitis helped himself to the odd list of items as he looted from two different holiday let properties at Pitcaple.
But the 35-year-old was caught red-handed in the second of the two properties carrying a bottle of wine.
Fiscal depute Andrew McMann told Aberdeen Sheriff Court Simaitis targeted Pinewood Cottage at 6.30am on May 7 this year.
Then the thief struck at the second nearby address just half an hour later.
Beautician’s ex reported her drink-driving
A beauty therapist’s ex-boyfriend reported her drink-driving after she turned up to confront him about a row she’d had with his new partner.
Rachel Paterson “felt well enough” to drive across Elgin to the man’s house after an earlier argument at a pub with his new woman.
But when she drove away from her ex’s place, following the exchange, he contacted the police – telling them he believed that the 35-year-old had been drinking.
Paterson was shortly pulled over by the police for her ill-advised actions when her white Ford was spotted by officers, Elgin Sheriff Court was told.
Pro poker player’s violence injured policewoman
An international poker player and his dad instigated a violent incident at an Aberdeen casino – injuring a female police officer.
Professional cards expert Thomas Ward, 36, and his father Mark Ward, 63, were both arrested by the police.
They’d been involved in an altercation when the pair were denied entry to the city’s Grosvenor Casino on Exchequer Row.
Thomas Ward, who’s won thousands of pounds in global competitions, manhandled a bouncer before striking the policewoman across the face.
Nasty boyfriend’s ‘doomed’ relationship
An abusive boyfriend who took his “scared” girlfriend into the woods after a row was in a relationship that was “doomed from the start” – his defence solicitor has said.
Zharick Henderson, 22, returned to the dock to be sentenced after admitting to engaging in a course of behaviour that was abusive of his partner at the time.
The woman fell to the ground in the isolated and unfamiliar woodland, where Henderson had pulled at her clothes on March 21 last year.
During the ordeal, she sent a panicked text message to friends, saying: “I’m scared. I don’t know how to leave. I don’t know how to get out of here. Please help”.
Speeding nurse crashed into schoolgirl who was flung into the air
A speeding nurse struck a schoolchild while driving at least 60mph in a 40mph limit – hurtling the severely injured young girl into the air.
Maisie Horn, 22, was found guilty of careless driving to severe injury and danger of life by a jury during a three-day trial.
She was going far too quickly along a B-road on the Isle of Lewis when she hit the youngster, who suffered a bleed on the brain, damaged spleen and punctured lung.
Horn, who had denied an initial charge of dangerous driving, was convicted of the lesser offence at Inverness Sheriff Court.
Drink-driver reversed on A95
A drunk windfarm worker was caught reversing along a major north-east road while almost five times the drink-drive limit.
Rory McPartlan, a recent repeat offender, immediately told police: “I am sorry. You have certainly caught me the night”.
The 28-year-old was stopped by officers who were on mobile patrol when they came across him reversing his white Mercedez-Benz along the A95.
It was on a section of the road close to its junction with the A96 near Bridge of Haugh.
Diver kicked woman’s car door in road rage ‘tantrum’
A scallop diver tailgated a female motorist, forced her into an emergency stop, and kicked her car door during a road rage “temper tantrum”.
Scott Mackenzie, 26, chased after the woman when she swerved to avoid hitting his BMW 6 Series, which he’d nosed out of an Inverness street on July 11 2022.
He tailgated the 53-year-old from Fairfield Road to Dochfour Drive, where he cut a corner to overtake her and forced the lady to make an emergency stop.
Mackenzie then went to confront the other driver and kicked her car door, not realising she was opening it.
Curfew breaker pretends he’s someone else as police catch him
A bail breacher has been branded “not a very good criminal” after telling police he wasn’t who they were looking for – despite meeting the same officers less than an hour earlier.
Lee Slater, 22, was caught driving his orange Mini in an Elgin street that he’s banned from entering.
He tried to pretend he was someone else when officers caught him outside.
But his attempt was “doomed to fail” – Elgin Sheriff Court heard – because the same officers knew who he was as they’d visited him earlier that same evening.
Oil and gas accountant jailed for sexual chats with ‘underage girl’
An oil and gas accountant has been jailed after sexual chats with an undercover police officer who was posing as an underaged girl.
Serial paedophile Steven Balfour denied charges of engaging in sexual conversation with what he believed to be a child, and possessing a number of indecent images of children.
The 52-year-old went on trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court last month.
But after hearing all the evidence in the case against Balfour, it took a jury only two hours to unanimously find him guilty of both charges.
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