Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Domestic abuser returned to prison after assaulting ex
A man who carried out an “insidious course of domestic abuse” has been sent back to prison after he threatened his ex-girlfriend by sending her images of deadly weapons.
Tyler Leisk had only been freed from HMP Grampian for a week before he was back in custody for threatening and assaulting the woman, who was forced to flee a property to escape him.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard the 24-year-old then warned her he would “slit her throat” before forwarding images of a knife and a handgun.
He also sent her more than 400 threatening WhatsApp messages.
Man caught with drugs at north-east castle planned to supply friend
A man was caught at a north-east castle with drugs he planned to supply to a friend.
Jamie Mair was spotted in a vehicle at Kincardine Castle by the owner of a nearby plant hire business.
When security staff challenged him, the 27-year-old admitted that he was in possession of drugs and surrendered a self-seal bag containing “white crystals”.
Woman lost leg after being knocked down by over-the-limit lorry driver
A lorry driver who left a woman wheelchair-bound after he drove over her as she crossed the road in Inverness city centre has been jailed.
John Macleod was also over the drink-driving limit when he failed to spot the 57-year-old pedestrian and knocked her to the ground with the cab of his Mercedes tipper.
The woman’s leg had to be amputated after multiple wheels of the vehicle ran over her, leaving a “trail of flesh” in the road, Inverness Sheriff Court was told.
Highland woman accused of attacking and killing her own sister
A woman is to stand trial accused of attacking and killing her own sister in the Highlands.
Jane Forey, 60, allegedly attacked Susan Hendrickson at her sibling’s home in Roy Bridge, Inverness-shire, on January 11 2022.
The culpable homicide charge states Susan was pushed or struck causing her to fall and hit her head.
Jail for drug dealer dad who asked for time to prepare his daughter for his prison sentence
A man who wanted bail so he could prepare his daughter for life without him has been jailed for smuggling £300,000 of cocaine.
Bryan Collum, 34, was arrested after police found him transporting large amounts of the drug between Airdrie, Lanarkshire, and the north of Scotland.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard how officers stopped Collum when he was driving a white Seat Leon on the A95 road in Drumuillie, close to Inverness on July 21 2022.
Vodka-glugging van driver sacked
A lorry driver has been sacked by his employer after he was seen drinking from a bottle of vodka before getting behind the wheel of a van.
Krystian Kalczynski could barely walk when he entered a shop and returned with a bottle of vodka, which he took several large mouthfuls of before climbing into his white van and driving off.
The 38-year-old was later found by police drunk on his sofa at home.
When tested Kalczynski was found to be more than five times the drink-drive limit.
Man threatened to stab women and dogs with scissors
A man fell off the wagon after eight months sober and threatened to stab his friend’s dogs with a pair of scissors.
Without warning, Ritchie Findlay pulled out the scissors during a house party in the Tillydrone area of the city and also threatened to stab two women.
Assuming his behaviour would result in a prison sentence, Findlay, 30, told officers while in custody that when he got out of jail he would be “going back for” the females.
Serious sexual predator jailed after attacks in Aberdeen and Banff
A predator who carried out sex attacks on a teenager and another male weeks apart was jailed for 47 months today.
Daniel Wood, 32, formerly of Great Northern Road, Aberdeen, preyed on his victims at addresses in the city and in Banff.
A judge told Wood at the High Court in Edinburgh: “You pled guilty to two charges of sexual assault carried out on two different occasions in 2020 against two young men.”
Lord Harrower said: “Both offences were aggravated by being committed while you were on bail.”
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Man sexually assaulted woman in Prohibition toilets
A man who sexually assaulted a woman in the toilets of Prohibition nightclub returned the very next night and tried to rape a woman he met at the same club.
Yassine Ladjici had been in Aberdeen visiting friends when he attended the Langstane Place nightspot and followed a woman into the toilets.
The 25-year-old leaned against the cubicle door and stopped her from leaving while repeatedly attempting to kiss her.
Man pulled ‘large and alarming’ knife during bus station brawl
A man who pulled a “large and alarming” knife during a late-night bus station brawl in Inverness has been told he is lucky no one was injured.
Mateusz Dymarski produced the weapon from his waistband during a fight that began when another man, Jordan Cumming, picked up a waste bin and hurled it in his direction.
The pair exchanged punches, then Dymarski pulled out the 20cm blade and swiped at his opponent before dropping it on the ground.
Woman accused of three attempted murders admits lesser charge of dangerous driving while drunk
A woman on trial accused of three attempted murders has pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving while intoxicated.
Donna Stewart was on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen accused of driving at high speed while nearly twice the drink-drive limit before ploughing her Mercedes C220 into the side of an Inverness branch of William Hill.
Three men were in the vehicle when it collided with the stone wall of the building on Grant Street on January 21 2021.
Aberdeen drug-driver didn’t realise vape was laced with cannabis
A father-of-five has been banned from the road after being caught drug-driving – because he didn’t realise his vape contained cannabis.
Henry Derrett – who started vaping as a replacement for smoking cannabis – was pulled over on the A90 near Foveran by officers who suspected he may have been speeding.
But the 31-year-old failed a drug test and has now been handed a driving ban as punishment.
Unpaid work for ‘incredibly foolish’ teen who threw paving slab from roof
An ‘incredibly foolish’ teenage boy has been handed unpaid work after throwing a paving slap off the roof of an Aberdeen shopping centre.
The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, chucked the heavy slab from the roof of the St Nicholas Centre while he was out socialising with a group of friends.
He also kicked and punched a CCTV camera as he was being watched on a different surveillance camera by police.
Man in court after £333,000 cannabis seizure
A man has appeared in court after £333,000 of cannabis was discovered at an Aberdeen address.
Officers raided a property in the Jesmond Grange area of Bridge of Don on Tuesday in an operation to crack down on serious organised crime.
Dritan Korsita appeared in private at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday and has been remanded in custody.
Pensioner on trial accused of killing 91-year-old pedestrian
A pensioner has gone trial accused of killing a 91-year-old pedestrian in a Nairn road accident.
Christina Cameron’s car struck James Alexander on January 21 2021 and he died of his injuries in hospital several days later.
The 75-year-old, of Osprey Road, Nairn, is standing trial at Inverness Sheriff Court accused of causing his death by careless driving.
Sheffield man came to Aberdeen to take drugs without mum knowing
A man who travelled all the way from Sheffield to Aberdeen to take drugs without his mum’s knowledge was caught when police unexpectedly turned up at the flat he was using.
Danijah Wiggan, 31, knew his mum was dead against drugs, so sought help from his Scottish cousin.
The relative allowed him to stay in his Aberdeen flat while he was away, but things went wrong when police carried out a drugs raid on another property and found Wiggan’s cousin’s dog.
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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.
Intoxicated driver who slammed car into Inverness bookmakers locked up
A drunk woman who caused life-threatening injuries to three passengers when her car hurtled at high speed into an Inverness bookmaker has been warned that prison is “almost inevitable”.
Donna Stewart, 46, pleaded guilty at the High Court in Aberdeen of driving at high speed while intoxicated before crashing her Mercedes C220 into the side of a city centre branch of William Hill.
Three men were in the vehicle when it ploughed into the stone wall of the building on Grant Street on January 21 2021.
Self-proclaimed ‘dirty beast’ jailed after brutal beating of girlfriend
A thug who confessed he was a “dirty beast” after a brutal attack on his partner is back behind bars.
Lee Hipson pounced the woman in a room at the Britannia Hotel in Aberdeen last October 14.
He battered and choked the woman, leaving her unconscious.
Pregnant woman and child injured when van driver lost control on A9
A van driver who lost control on the A9 and smashed into a car injuring an expectant mother and young child has been allowed to keep his licence.
Liam Robertson’s work van rounded a bend on the wrong side of the road at Navidale, near Helmsdale, colliding with a BMW heading north on the A9.
A heavily pregnant woman and four-year-old girl, who were passengers in the car, were both injured in the crash.
Serial sex attacker who raped child in public toilet
A man who raped a 15-year-old girl and sexually assaulted two women was today jailed for six years.
Jacob Davies, 22, committed the offences in Orkney between February 2018 and January 2021.
Davies abducted the teenage girl, locked her in a public toilet and detained her against her will.
He went on to assault her by placing his hands inside her clothing before groping her.
Vehicle recovery firm fined over failings
A vehicle recovery firm has admitted health and safety failings uncovered following the death of a worker, who was crushed when his truck fell on top of him.
While the breaches were discovered during a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into the death of Robert Garvock, they were not the cause of the devastating incident that killed him.
A Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) will now be held to investigate the 68-year-old dad-of-three’s death, which happened while he worked for Kairdson Tyres Limited.
Case dropped against Yorkshire man accused of scamming Ellon OAPs
Prosecutors have dropped the case against a West Yorkshire man who had been charged with swindling more that £10,000 from two Ellon pensioners.
The elderly couple, who reside in the Ellon area, were reportedly conned out of the five-figure sum of money.
In October 2021, police revealed they had charged a man from West Yorkshire in connection with the alleged scam.
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