Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Controlling and violent Stonehaven domestic abuser jailed
A controlling and violent boyfriend who made “multiple” threats to kill his partner has been jailed.
Alexander McFarlane, from Stonehaven, repeatedly punched and headbutted the woman over almost four years and controlled all aspects of her life, including what she could eat and when she could sleep.
On one occasion the 28-year-old told her: “I want to push part of the hoover into your skull until it breaks and dump your body at the bottom of the stairs.”
The woman later told police McFarlane is “unable to control his rage”.
Man fractured pal’s skull over comment about son’s tragic death
An Aberdeen man left his pal with a fractured skull after flying into a drunken rage over a comment about his son’s death.
Lee Smith visited his friend and both consumed alcohol and drugs before things descended into violence.
Following the attack, Smith’s victim found himself locked inside the address and had to climb out of a window to get help.
Aberdeen woman in court accused of armed robbery at shop
A woman has appeared in court accused of robbing an Aberdeen shop last year.
Ashton Breen faced two charges in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, where she appeared in private this afternoon.
The 33-year-old, whose address was given as the Aberdeen area, is accused of assault and robbery and having a bladed or pointed article in a public place.
Man breached bail to go to Rome for Travis Scott gig
A Huntly man has been handed unpaid work for breaching his bail order curfew – to go to a “once-in-a-lifetime” music gig in Rome.
Elliot Small was ordered to stay within his home address between the hours of 6pm and 6am daily as part of a bail condition imposed at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
But the 22-year-old defied the courts by jetting off to Italy to see his favourite rapper Travis Scott.
Mum on trial accused of causing baby’s death
A north-east mum has gone on trial accused of causing the death of her 13-week-old son after party drugs were found in his bloodstream and baby formula.
Amy Beck is facing charges that she exposed her child, Olly-James, to the illegal drugs M-cat and MDMA, which resulted in him ingesting them.
The 32-year-old is also accused of wilfully neglecting two other children who were also found with drugs in their bloodstream, including Methadrone (M-cat), MDMA and cocaine.
Drink-driving nurse blamed alcohol-laced football bus stash
A nurse caught trying to drive home while intoxicated after a nightshift blamed Covid and an alcohol-laced football bus stash for her crime.
Nicola Kerr said she had lost her sense of taste due to the coronavirus, leading to an inability to detect that there was alcohol in soft drinks she had taken from the football supporters’ snacks.
Kerr, 41, refused to provide police with a breath sample after they found her smelling of alcohol, slurring her speech and in the driver’s seat of her private-plated Kia Ceed, with empty alcohol containers beside her.
Racist lout in dock over sickening abuse of Aberdeen shop manager
A racist yob has appeared in court after branding a Sainsbury’s manager a “monkey” in a disgusting foul-mouthed tirade.
Eryk Prochun launched the sickening volley of verbal abuse at the woman after she asked him to leave the St Nicholas Centre store due to being banned.
Throughout the incident, the 28-year-old shouted and swore, using vile racial language including the N-word.
Retired lecturer admits ‘morning after’ drink-driving
A retired lecturer has been banned from the roads after admitting drink-driving last month near Peterhead.
Hatton resident Wilson Steele, 77, appeared in Peterhead Sheriff Court after the “morning after” incident on January 30.
The court heard that Steele had been shopping in Hatton at around noon and a witness who saw him thought he seemed drunk.
‘Obsessed’ cannabis grower was trying to grow ‘the perfect plant’
A drug dealer caught with cannabis worth an estimated £19,000 had become obsessed with “trying to grow the perfect plant”, a court has heard.
William Haig-Thomas had 21 plants, tents and extractor fans as part of what was described as a “professional set-up” at his Highland home.
The 27-year-old admitted the drugs were his, but told police growing the plants had become “a bit of an obsession”.
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Roads ban for 103mph A9 speeder
A driver caught doing more than 100mph on the A9 has been banned from the roads for six months.
Jordan Grant’s blue Volkswagen Golf was clocked doing 103mph at Delny Muir north of Invergordon on a stretch of road with a 60mph speed limit.
When stopped he told officers he was “rushing home” to help his mother with his brother.
Unpaid work for 64-year-old who stroked teen’s thigh on bus
A 64-year-old man who stroked a teenager’s thigh as she sat next to him on a bus has been ordered to complete unpaid work in the community.
Duncan Morrison will also remain on the sex offenders register for a year after he admitted a charge of sexual assault on the 15-year-old, who he signalled to sit in an empty seat beside him before touching her leg.
When he began to move his hand up her thigh, the girl looked about “panicked” and another passenger stepped in, shouting at Morrison to stop.
Aberdeen rapist caught drink-driving just hours before sex assault conviction
An Aberdeen rapist was caught drink-driving his mother’s car just hours before a High Court jury convicted him of the sex attack.
Disgraced former fashion store boss Ryan Steehouder was caught driving while over the limit and uninsured the evening before appearing dishevelled in the dock to be found guilty of the sex assault.
This week, Steehouder appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court via a video link from HMP Edinburgh, having been given an extended eight-year sentence.
The sex offender received more jail time and given a substantial ban.
Tooled-up Keith thief thwarted by brave shopkeepers
Daring shopkeepers tackled a tooled-up thief as he attempted to steal the tills from their Keith convenience store.
Munish and Diane Tandon were in the flat above the Premier Store on Reidhaven Square when Graham Elrick broke in trying to steal their cash registers.
The couple confronted the intruder and eventually restrained him, even after he produced tools from his pockets and assaulted them.
Paedophile University Challenge contestant appeals conviction
A paedophile who once appeared on the BBC quiz University Challenge has asked appeals court judges to overturn his conviction for preying on young girls.
Andrew Newton, 31, was branded a “nasty perverted little spider” by a sheriff after he was convicted of sending indecent messages to girls as young as 12 and attempting to persuade them to meet him for sex.
The former St Andrews University maths student, who appeared on the long-running BBC quiz show in 2012, was later found by police to have accessed indecent images of children online.
Married predator followed and sexually assaulted female clubber
A married man is behind bars today after he stalked a woman as she walked home from an Aberdeen nightclub before sexually assaulting her in the street.
Robert Angus tailed the lone female after she left Babylon nightclub in the early hours of the morning then grabbed her from behind and tackled her to the ground.
The 52-year-old then sexually assaulted the woman, whose screams were accidentally recorded in a text message she was in the middle of sending to friends.
Man jailed over ‘act of thuggery’ assault in Aberdeen city centre
A man has been caged after assaulting a reveller in Aberdeen city centre in what a sheriff branded an act of “thuggery”.
Rikki Sangster sucker-punched his victim as he walked along Windmill Brae while on a night out.
The 36-year-old lashed out due to believing the man had made some sort of comment towards his friend’s 16-year-old son.
‘Careless’ new driver lost control while overtaking on wet A9
A teenager who lost control of his car in wet conditions while overtaking on the A9 has been fined more than £500.
Gordon Stronach was trying to escape the spray from the vehicle in front but as he completed the manoeuvre he lost control of his Fiat before “spinning out” and hitting a tree.
The 18-year-old appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit a single charge of careless driving in relation to the incident on May 10 last year.
Fabrication firm fined after employee loses fingers in machinery
An Inverurie steel fabrication firm has been fined after a worker trapped his hand in machinery and lost two fingers.
The 52-year-old man suffered the horrific injury while working on a metal gate for Inverurie firm James Moir & Sons Ltd.
While cleaning a tube of metal, his right hand was drawn into and under the tube, trapping it, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
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Drug addict found guilty of murdering former Alness man
A drug addict faces a life sentence after he was found guilty of the murder of a Highland statistician.
The decomposing body of Donald Prentice Patience, 45, was discovered inside a duvet cover at the bottom of his stairs after police were called to a burglary at his home in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester.
A postman dialled 999 on the morning of August 22 last year when he saw Ian Connell, 39, climb through the rear kitchen window of the end terrace property in Ainsworth Road.
Former Shetland teacher found guilty of molesting six boys
A former Shetland primary school teacher has been told to expect a jail term after being found guilty of historic sexual offences on six of his pupils.
A jury in Peterhead took just 30 minutes to convict Stephen Tait on all six charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous behaviour towards six boys.
Tait had been employed as a probationary teacher more than a decade ago at Bell’s Brae Primary School in Lerwick.
Man who assaulted Nairn 81-year-old told he is lucky his victim wasn’t killed
A teenager who assaulted an 81-year-old outside sheltered accommodation has been told he is lucky his elderly victim did not die in the attack.
Aiden Beats pushed his victim during a “stand-up fight” causing the pensioner to fall to the ground and bang his head.
Sheriff Gary Aitken remarked that the 18-year-old was “staggeringly lucky” that the attack had not had more serious consequences.
Teen fined over late night Nairn street assault
A teenager has been fined over his part in a late night street assault in Nairn.
Travis Abbott, 19, kicked a man and knocked him to the ground on High Street Brae.
His solicitor said Abbott had “done a lot of growing up” since the incident in November 2022.
Mum who sold cannabis told dealing is ‘not the ideal family business’
A mum who was “sucked into” a cannabis dealing operation with her former partner has been told that selling drugs is “not the ideal family business”.
Chelsea Miller appeared for sentencing having previously admitted being concerned in the supply of the class B drug.
When advised that her now ex-partner was in custody, Sheriff Gary Aitken commented: “It’s not the ideal family business really, is it?”
Pillar of Highland community hid ‘depraved’ desire for children
A Fort William charity volunteer has been unmasked as a paedophile after he was caught with more than 20,000 indecent images on his computer.
Alexander Farquhar was caught with 20,514 still images and 155 videos, which he admitted downloading to his computer between January 2010 and June 2020.
Sheriff Gary Aitken said had been “narrowly persuaded” not to jail the 65-year-old because he believed a sex offenders rehabilitation programme would help him appreciate “the depths” of his “depravity”.
Aberdeen voyeur set up hidden camera to film colleague getting undressed
An Aberdeen pervert who set up a hidden camera to record a colleague getting changed has been placed on the sex offenders register.
Michael Strachan was caught out when the woman spotted his concealed iPhone at Parcelforce Worldwide facility on Wellington Circle.
Alarmed, the woman picked up the phone and saw that it was recording a video.
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