Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Belly-wielding man sentenced over bizarre assault
A man has been fined after using his stomach as a weapon to assault a police officer during a disturbance outside an Aberdeen address.
Liam Ritchie twice struck an officer to the chest using his stomach during the bizarre incident on Earns Heugh Circle.
The 33-year-old also grabbed the officer’s wrists during his very physical protest about the police’s handling of an unrelated matter.
Ritchie previously pled guilty to assaulting a police officer in the incident, which happened on August 1 last year, and re-appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court to be sentenced.
Inverness teenager chased man with baseball bat
A man was chased with a baseball bat during a racially aggravated crime in Inverness.
Joshua Reilly, 18, called his victim a “Polish c***” and asked him “do you want to get hit now?” when he encountered him outside a charity event in Inverness.
He then left the scene but returned soon after swinging a baseball bat and threatening to hit the man, who ran off with Reilly hot on his heels.
Reilly appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court for sentencing having previously admitted charges of threatening or abusive behaviour and of having an offensive weapon in a public place – a crime that was deemed to be aggravated by racial prejudice.
Aberdeen pizza-lover’s one-way street mishap
A hungry pizza-lover crashed while going the wrong way down a one-way street after picking up his order.
Eniola Akinsanmi had initially driven the correct way down Howburn Place to collect his takeaway from the popular pizza parlour Big Manny’s.
But after picking the pizza up, the 21-year-old performed a three-point turn and emerged from the junction back onto Holburn Street the wrong way.
Elgin man cleared of harassing dolphins
An Elgin man who was accused of harassing dolphins in the Moray Firth has been acquitted after a trial heard the evidence against him.
Bogdan Luca faced a charge of “intentionally or recklessly” disturbing the animals by driving his boat through the pod off the coast of Lossiemouth on March 25 2022.
The 43-year-old, of Duff Avenue in Elgin, appeared in the dock at the town’s sheriff court.
But he was ultimately cleared of the charge when a verdict of not proven was returned.
Dog owner’s Husky killed farmer’s sheep and lambs worth £5,000
A man has been banned from keeping dogs after his Husky named Bello killed sheep and lambs worth £5,000 on an Aberdeenshire farm.
Aaron Burr, known as Morrison, lost control of his dog on two separate occasions when it attacked and killed sheep at Redhouse Farm in Oldmeldrum.
The devastating attacks left sheep with horrifying injuries and the farmer with a significant financial loss.
In total, 10 sheep were killed and 25 lambs were aborted or still-born.
Paedophile secretly video-recorded young girls
A paedophile was caught with scores of videos featuring young girls who were unaware they’d been recorded in Aberdeen city centre, a court has heard.
Greig Dow, 41, admitted a series of charges concerning images and videos found on his devices when police raided his home in September 2019.
They uncovered more than 5,500 indecent images of children and over 19 hours of video footage.
There were even recordings featuring Dow and a girl aged between seven and nine years old and videos of teenage girls that he had recorded around the city.
Pepper-sprayed man in viral video jailed
A man has been jailed after his drunken clash with police went viral when he claimed an incapacitator similar to pepper spray tasted “like JD” whisky.
Michael Wood was filmed jostling with officers outside Sainsbury’s on George Street, Aberdeen, while officers resorted to using the PAVA incapacitant spray to subdue him.
But the 39-year-old, who could be seen foaming at the mouth in the video footage, appeared mostly unaffected and continued to struggle with the law enforcers.
The clip quickly went viral on social media, including TikTok and X (formerly Twitter), with many commenters noting that Wood may be referencing Sloth from The Goonies, who also famously shouted “Hey you guys” during the classic 1985 movie.
Disgruntled son-in-law stole £110,000 of machinery
A disgruntled son-in-law who raided his father-in-law’s business premises and stole machinery worth £110,000 has been jailed for 21 months.
Alexander Ferguson, 51, targeted premises belonging to his then-wife’s dad, businessman Brian MacGregor.
It happened more than five years ago in August 2018, when Ferguson made off with the expensive equipment that included tractors, forklifts and dumper trucks.
On the day that he targeted the Moy Moss yard near Dalmagarry, Ferguson sent voice notes to his own father.
Get the latest crime and court stories delivered straight to your inbox
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.
Gardener had almost 10kg of vacuum-packed cannabis
A gardener has been jailed after police pulled his car over in Aberdeen and caught him with almost 10kg of cannabis stored in the boot.
Rafal Smaga, 44, was discovered in possession of the huge haul of vacuum-packed drugs – worth up to £161,500 – contained in two cardboard boxes.
The married father said he had been asked to transport the packages across Aberdeen.
But he claimed to believe it was steroids rather than cannabis, despite either being a criminal offence.
Violent offshore worker close to jail
An offshore worker who stole a bottle of Peach Schnapps from an Aberdeen nightclub has been warned he could be jailed if he continues to offend.
David Edwards admitted to snatching the drink from the bar at Prohibition before violently resisting police officers when they tried to arrest him.
In a string of shocking incidents, the 23-year-old also assaulted a member of the public who tapped him on the shoulder at Soul Bar two nights later.
Jailed man wanted to rip police officer’s heart out
A man who was caught carrying a knife after threatening to rip a police officer’s heart out and knock their head off has been jailed.
Daniel Harkness also hurled ableist, homophobic, racist and sectarian slurs at police, Inverness Sheriff Court was told.
The sheriff who sent the 46-year-old to prison for a year branded Harkness a “perennial pain” to the authorities.
He previously appeared in the dock and pled guilty to two charges of threatening or abusive behaviour and another charge of carrying a knife.
Hollywood fraudster must pay back family
A Highland woman who conned her family out of £35,000 as part of an elaborate Hollywood actress scam has been told to pay back the cash to her victims. Ann Dunlop, 68, claimed a woman she knew was being lined up for million-pound contracts.
The fraudster convinced her brother David Bunton, 51, to hand the woman cash to help her make the breakthrough.
She claimed that the woman was mingling with A-list celebrities including Leonardo Di Caprio, Beyoncé, and Jay-Z as well as being managed by US entertainment executive Irving Azoff.
Drunk attacked bar manager
A bar manager activated his body-worn camera to record video evidence of a drunken customer turning on him during a violent outburst.
Ryan McFarlane became “confrontational and aggressive” when the barman refused to serve him alcohol in The Kings Highway, JD Wetherspoon, Inverness.
He was filmed throwing a pint at his victim, spitting in his face, and pushing him to the ground at the Church Street premises, around 5.10pm on September 6 last year.
But the 28-year-old, whose alcohol-fuelled bad behaviour was described by a sheriff as “an unpleasant incident”, avoided a prison sentence.
‘Agitated’ stab victim threatens ex-girlfriend with knife
A man who pulled a knife on his ex-girlfriend outside a block of flats in Aberdeen later told police that she makes him “crazy”.
Jaie Cowie had earlier been stabbed during an apparent knife fight in Mastrick.
Then he staggered into a car park at Stockethill Court, where he spotted his former partner.
Next, the 22-year-old grabbed his ex by her hair, threatening her with a long blade.
Drink-driver flipped car
An Aberdeen drink-driver who was more than three times the alcohol limit flipped his car onto its side after “stupidly” driving to Tesco.
Justin Gore had earlier spent the day drinking with friends and attending a football match.
When he returned home in the evening, the 22-year-old chose to hop into his vehicle to drive a walking distance to the shop.
But the short journey took a turn for the worse when Gore lost control of the car, which overturned.
Drink-driving hospital builder tells sheriff he had a ‘rush of blood to the head’
A drink-driving builder who came to Aberdeen to work on the site of a new hospital told a sheriff he had a “rush of blood to the head”.
Carl Smith had been drinking in a pub near the city’s Frederick Street before making the rash decision to get behind the wheel of a van.
But the 65-year-old quickly caught the attention of the police and he was pulled over.
On top of failing a breath test, revealing he was three times the legal alcohol limit, further checks revealed he was already banned from driving.
Get the latest crime and court stories delivered straight to your inbox
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.
Trio’s ‘truncheon-style’ torch attack
Three people have been sentenced after they assaulted a man with a 12-inch “truncheon-style” torch.
Paul Geddes, 46, Chrissy-May Geddes, 24, and William Macintosh, 62, set about their victim after confusion arose over him picking up the wrong mobile phone.
He called William Macintosh and arranged to come by his house to make the exchange, Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard.
But, when he arrived he was attacked by Geddes, Macintosh and Mackintosh’s niece.
Moray couple neglected baby boy found dead with cocaine in his system
A Moray mum has admitted neglecting her baby son who was found dead with cocaine in his system.
Logan Sherwin was only around three months old when he died, Inverness Sheriff Court was told.
However, despite the baby’s exposure to cocaine, the cause of death – known as ‘sudden death in infancy’ – could not be linked with the presence of the Class A drug.
Logan’s 28-year-old mum Abigail Sherwin, of Burns Road, Lhanbryde, appeared in the dock with her partner at the time of the tragedy Sam Scott, 32, of Forties Place, Lossiemouth.
They both pled guilty to wilfully neglecting Logan by recklessly consuming drugs in his presence.
Released paedophile on MORE child images charges
A notorious north-east paedophile who was recently freed from prison has landed back in the dock on fresh charges of possessing indecent images of children.
Jordan Gall was jailed in January of this year after he was found in possession of nearly 7,000 illegal images and more than two weeks’ worth of unlawful videos.
Even babies featured in some of the footage that was discovered on the 28-year-old’s mobile phone.
Gall was added to the sex offenders register for 10 years after admitting to downloading and possessing the disturbing content on his computer between March 1 and November 21 2021.
On Thursday, he appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and pled guilty to further indecent images offences and breaching restrictions placed on him as a registered sex offender between March and October 2022.
Pub-brawler bottled barmaid
A woman drank at least seven pints of cider and then bottled a barmaid who asked her to leave the premises.
Samantha Hay, 36, has avoided going to jail for the drunken attack outside the Claymore Bar on Grantown-on-Spey’s High Street.
After staff tried to persuade Hay to head home, she returned to the venue and lashed out, hitting one member of staff in the face with a bottle.
She appeared for sentencing at Inverness Sheriff Court on Thursday, after previously pleading guilty to a charge of assault.
Joiner threatened his boss
A man has admitted being abusive to his boss and threatening to stalk him if he didn’t get paid.
Barry Laing, 46, appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court – facing charges of threatening his employer Ryan Calvert.
Fiscal depute Clare Stewart told the court Laing, a fully qualified joiner, had been sub-contracting for Mr Calvert’s campervan conversion business on the city’s Urquhart Road.
On July 15 last year, Laing turned up wanting to talk with Mr Calvert, after starting work earlier that month, on July 4.
Lodger broke landlord’s wrist
An ungrateful lodger throttled the friend he was renting a room from and broke her wrist after she rescued him from homelessness.
Andrew Shepherd, 42, pled guilty to assaulting his former landlord by grabbing her around the neck and restricting her breathing.
Following an argument with the woman, who was 45 years old at the time, Shepherd shoved her onto the ground – fracturing her wrist.
His solicitor described the incident as “out of character” for his client but the court was told that Shepherd has previous criminal convictions for assault.
Thug who taped disabled man to mobility scooter back in court after attacking his co-accused friend
A thug who taped a disabled man to his mobility scooter has returned to court after turning on his friend in a vicious and bloody attack.
Calvin Gallon, 23, beat Callum Swaffield, 19, with a baseball bat before striking him across the head with a bottle of Buckfast tonic wine.
Gallon, who pled guilty to the attack, then smashed the bottle over Swaffield’s head and stabbed him with the shards of broken glass, Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard.
They had both previously appeared in the dock last December after playing a cruel “prank” – inspired by a TV show called ‘Jackass’ – on disabled Macduff man John Tweed.
For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen and the latest crime and breaking incidents, join our Facebook group.
