Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Driver caught almost three times limit – despite owning breathalyser
A drink-driver was caught almost three times the legal limit on his way home from Azerbaijan – despite usually carrying his own breathalyser.
Graeme Wright, a father-of-one, had been drinking to ease the stress of his 2,500-mile journey back to Elgin, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
The 47-year-old stopped drinking when he got to Heathrow before his flight up to Aberdeen, and had mistakenly thought the alcohol would have metabolised by then.
Drink-driver crashed en route to pick up partner after two bottles of wine
A wine-swigging drink-driver crashed into another car while almost five times the legal limit.
Neil Dey had seen off two bottles of wine before deciding to hop into his car to go and pick up his partner.
But, predictably, things did not go as planned and the 43-year-old ended up smashing into the back of another vehicle at traffic lights.
The other driver then removed Dey’s keys and called the police.
Man brandished broken bottle at police in Aberdeen city centre
A man has been handed a supervision order after brandishing a broken glass bottle at police in Aberdeen city centre in the early hours of the morning.
Officers were called to Market Street shortly after 2am and arrived to find Mark Ransome waving a glass bottle around.
On seeing the police, the 38-year-old broke the bottom of the bottle and pointed the jagged edges of the glass towards them.
Foreign tourists in court after two serious crashes on A9
Two foreign tourists have appeared in private at Inverness Sheriff Court following two separate crashes on the A9 at the weekend.
The first happened at the Ralia junction, near Newtonmore, shortly before 2pm on Saturday and involved a white Vauxhall Crossland and a blue Jaguar XF.
Two passengers from the Vauxhall – a 55-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man – were taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness and have since been discharged.
Man fined for flinging poo-filled bag at police officer
A man has been fined after flinging a poo-filled bag at a police officer in Aberdeen – hitting him in the head.
Colin Forrester launched the bag, which contained a police dog’s excrement, at the officer in Torry during an incident on North Balnagask Road.
Despite the bag hitting the officer in the head, fortunately, it did not split.
Hiker died from hypothermia after separating from walking group
A keen outdoorsman died from exposure and hypothermia after becoming separated from his walking group in poor weather.
Jaroslav Ringart, 43, had gone walking in the Three Sisters of Glencoe area, near Ballachulish, when he became separated from his group on February 10 this year.
Heartfelt tributes described the married dad from Hensingham in Whitehaven, Cumbria, as a “larger than life” character and a “true gent” who was “always smiling”.
Jaroslav, who was born in Poland, had lived in the UK for 15 years and worked as a head engineer.
Inverness Indian restaurant boss attacked by drunk son
The son of an Inverness restaurant owner has been jailed after assaulting his father in the Indian eatery.
Mohamed Ahmed had to be ushered out of Shapla in Castle Road after carrying out the attack, Inverness Sheriff Court was told.
The 23-year-old, who works for his father at another restaurant in the city, was drunk after he arrived at Shapla on the evening of July 23 this year.
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Aberdeen gecko thief back behind bars after battering dad
A man has been remanded in custody after headbutting his dad during a drunken row.
Alistair Sorrie headbutted his father twice and rained down punches on the stricken 64-year-old as he lay on the ground.
The 44-year-old then turned on the man’s partner when she tried to separate them, punching her directly in the face.
Man cut off vulnerable victim’s finger in ‘barbaric’ act of revenge
A man who “took the law into his own hands” and cut off another man’s little finger with a knife has been warned he could face a lengthy custodial sentence.
In what was described in court as an act of “barbarism”, John Johnson placed a 12.5cm knife over his victim’s pinkie and then struck it repeatedly with a claw hammer.
Lerwick Sheriff Court was told Johnson assaulted his victim to make an example of him amid allegations he had stolen from people.
Cruel romance fraudster jailed after attempting to trick 84-year-old victim
A serial fraudster who was living the high life on an 84-year-old man’s savings has been jailed after she pretended to be in love with him while trying to con him out of £81,000.
Cheryl Joss, also known as Mitchell, used her ill-gotten gains to buy designer clothes, holidays and expensive gifts for herself while scamming the pensioner out of more than £30,000.
The 41-year-old grifter also used his name to try and gain more than £50,000 in finance, Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard.
Sacked farm worker hit forklift with hammer as it tried to move vehicle
A sacked farm worker attacked a forklift with a hammer after tensions with other employees boiled over.
Alex Johnson reacted angrily when one of the other workers at Slains Park Farm in Kinneff threatened to use the forklift to move his vehicle.
The 33-year-old had had his employment on the farm terminated when his relationship with the owners soured following an industrial accident.
Woman assaulted 92-year-old in broad daylight attack
A woman has been jailed after a disturbing broad daylight attack on a 92-year-old stranger in the centre of Aberdeen.
Dionne Laurie pelted the pensioner with food as he sat minding his own business on a bench at the Castlegate.
When the startled man got up and tried to walk away, his 38-year-old assailant followed, aggressively swinging her arms toward him.
Woman threatened to eat police officer’s nose ‘clean off’
A woman threatened to “eat” a police officer’s nose during a tirade of abuse, a court has heard.
Agnes Stewart, 37, told an officer “I want to eat the f***ing nose clean off your face” during the incident at Burnett Road Police Station, Inverness.
Stewart appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit a single charge of threatening or abusive behaviour in relation to the incident on January 27 of this year.
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Highland woman conned family out of £35,000 in Hollywood fraud
A Highland woman targeted her own family in a £35,000 con involving a bogus Hollywood actress and a string of A-list stars.
Ann Dunlop, 68, claimed that a woman she knew was being lined up for million-pound contracts and convinced brother David Brunton, 51, to hand over cash.
She stated that the woman was mingling with A-listers such as Leonardo Di Caprio, Jay-Z, Beyonce and Quentin Tarantino.
Aberdeen photographer found guilty of sex assaults on women
An Aberdeen photographer accused of sex offences involving 12 women has this afternoon been found guilty of five of the charges.
Simon ‘Sid’ Scott was on trial accused of a catalogue of sexual assault and indecent behaviour charges involving young teenage models – with many of the claims against him alleged to have taken place during photo shoots.
A large-scale police investigation into Scott’s crimes saw cybercrime officers sift through hundreds of thousands of his photographs, with 150,000 deemed to contain eroticism or nudity.
Man to stand trial accused of serious assault on dancer at strip club
A man is set to stand trial accused of choking a dancer in an Aberdeen strip club until she fell unconscious.
Mantas Gervetauskas is alleged to have assaulted the woman to her injury and to the danger of her life, as well as sexually assaulting her.
The 36-year-old, who is expected to fly back to Aberdeen from Lithuania for trial, denies the charges against him.
The alleged offences are said to have taken place at a strip club in Aberdeen on November 7 2019.
Son of missing Inverness woman caught with axe and knife in Asda
A man previously convicted of assaulting his father over the unsolved disappearance of his mother was caught carrying an axe and a knife at an Inverness supermarket.
Christopher Thomson, 30, was spotted acting suspiciously on CCTV by staff at Asda and police were called.
When Thomson was arrested officers found he was carrying an axe and a lock-knife.
Spanish drug gang’s Moray ‘soldier’ jailed
An “incredibly stupid” drug dealer who feared being killed by Spanish gangsters after £253,600 of their high-purity cocaine was seized by the police has been jailed.
Aiden McCrea, 20, was caught with the drugs after detectives learned he was involved in trafficking large quantities of the Class-A narcotic into the north-east of Scotland.
The High Court in Edinburgh was told that McCrea – a joiner by trade – is immature and got involved in the criminal enterprise thinking “it would be like something out of a film” but now realised the error of his ways.
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