Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Aberdeen domestic abuser throttled woman until she heard her eye ‘pop’
An Aberdeen domestic abuser who throttled a woman with such force she heard her eye “pop” has been jailed.
Derry Low, 23, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, where he admitted a sustained and violent catalogue of abuse against his former partner over four years.
It was stated that Low, who has two previous convictions for domestic abuse, repeatedly strangled and beat the woman.
Man struggled with security after being refused entry to bar
A man struggled with a door supervisor after being refused entry to a city centre bar, a court has been told.
Thomas Troup had appeared “under the influence” when he tried to get in to the Market Bar in Inverness.
But when he was tod he could not come in he remonstrated with staff – resulting in a “struggle”.
Prison for man PAVA sprayed during assault on officer in Inverness
A man who had to be PAVA-sprayed to stop him from attacking a police officer has been jailed.
Jason Mullen had overpowered the policeman, straddling him and delivering blows before the incapacitating spray was deployed.
The assault took place after a man was found slumped in an alleyway near Inverness Library, the city’s sheriff court heard.
Man, 26, in dock accused of serious assault in Westhill
A man has appeared in court in connection with a serious assault in Westhill.
Police were called to the Meikle Gardens area of Westhill following reports of a woman being assaulted shortly before 6.30am on Friday.
Now, 26-year-old Stuart Murison has appeared in private at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
Jail for high-risk sex offender with hopes of Peterhead move
A sex offender with hopes of living in Peterhead following his release from prison has been jailed again for breaching his court order by contacting women online.
Sandy Ross, who is not allowed to speak to women on the internet or electronically without notifying the police, was back in the dock last week.
At an earlier hearing of the case against him, the 32-year-old who is currently on remand in HMP Grampian, admitted to adding two women to Facebook group chats so he could speak to them, and to causing a teenager fear and alarm when he showed up brandishing a weapon at her door.
Sentence had been deferred for background reports until last Friday.
Aberdeen man threatened to ‘chop off’ neighbour’s private parts – or find someone who could
An Aberdeen thug threatened to “chop off” the private parts of a neighbour who owed his friend money, a court has heard.
Lee Davidson appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, where he admitted making blood-curdling threats to the man while standing outside his flat in the Sheddocksley area of the city.
Davidson, 39, uttered a series of threats, at one point telling the terrified man that his moneylender friend would “kill him” if he didn’t cough up what he owed.
Careless driver caused A9 crash that left grandmother seriously injured
A careless driver turned into the path of a car on the A9 and caused a crash that left a grandmother seriously injured.
Deborah Crawford made the careless manoeuvre at the Tain junction near to the Asda supermarket, causing the other car to swerve and collide with a wall.
The resulting crash left a passenger in the other vehicle – a grandmother returning from a day out with her husband and grandchild – with multiple broken bones.
Aberdeen arsonist’s threats to woman before he torched her home
An arsonist told a woman who ended a relationship with him that a body bag for one would be needed before starting a fire at her Aberdeen home.
Colin Forbes sent a number of threatening messages to his victim before arriving at the property with a jerry can of petrol and sparking a blaze.
Forbes, 52, appeared calm as he left the scene of the fire in Deveron Road, in Aberdeen, and later claimed to police that a friend phoned him and told him the house was petrol bombed.
Peterhead Indian restaurant workers sexually assaulted teenage girls
Two Indian restaurateurs from Peterhead have been convicted of sexually assaulting a pair of teenage girls after taking them on an all-expenses-paid night out in Aberdeen.
Zara’s Indian Cuisine chef Muhammad Abdur Rakib and manager Muhammad Abdul Kaium stood trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, and a jury found them guilty after four days of evidence.
Their victims – who were aged 16 and 17 – described how the men, both aged 37, took them to a nightclub for drinks before leading them to a city-centre hotel.
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Careless driver caused A9 crash that left grandmother seriously injured
A careless driver turned into the path of a car on the A9 and caused a crash that left a grandmother seriously injured.
Deborah Crawford made the careless manoeuvre at the Tain junction near to the Asda supermarket, causing the other car to swerve and collide with a wall.
The resulting crash left a passenger in the other vehicle – a grandmother returning from a day out with her husband and grandchild – with multiple broken bones.
Prolific Aberdeen disqualified driver jailed after ignoring ban for eighth time
An Aberdeen man has been jailed after being caught behind the wheel while banned for an eighth time.
Robert Razey, 31, was banned from driving for eight years in February last year but has now received an additional four-year disqualification and a jail term for once again flouting the law.
Sheriff William Summers told him: “It seems you are incapable of obeying court orders.”
Razey was spotted driving a silver Audi TT on Aberdeen’s Auchmill Road by patrolling traffic police.
Farm fined over death of worker whose clothing caught in conveyor
A Banffshire farm has been fined £20,000 after a worker died when his hood became trapped in machinery.
Adam Currie, 24, was strangled by the moving parts of a potato conveyor at Melrose Farms near Gardenstown, a court was told.
While Mr Currie had received training for his employment, no guard had been fitted to the rollers of the machine.
Moray Snapchat pervert caught sending indecent pictures to children for second time
A Moray man who once claimed it was a “drunken mistake” when he sent a 13-year-old girl photographs of his private parts has appeared in court after he committed the same offence for a second time.
Callum Bowie, 23, was convicted of communicating indecently with a child in 2022 after sending the photos and video to the child over Snapchat.
His solicitor at the time argued that Bowie’s actions were a “drunken mistake” and there was “no risk” that would require him to be added to the sex offenders register.
Turriff man avoids jail after sending ‘deplorable’ sex messages to his social worker
A man has been placed on the sex offenders register after he sent his social worker a series of “deplorable” sexual text messages
Robert Hutchison, 56, appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted to sending several messages to the woman over a weekend.
These started out apparently innocently, as Hutchison discussed wallpaper, but became increasingly distressing.
Deeside care home fined £7,000 after 95-year-old man injured in fall
A Deeside care home has been fined after a 95-year-old vulnerable resident was injured in a fall.
Cubanhall Limited, which owns and runs Annesley House in Torphins, admitted breaching health and safety laws over the incident, which happened in June 2023.
The company directors, husband and wife team Alan and Winifred Cordiner, sat in the public gallery of Aberdeen Sheriff Court as details of the case were read out.
Repeat Aberdeen offender reaches ‘the end of his rope’ and is jailed
A repeat offender who got locked out of his house in his underwear and became violent has been jailed.
Lee Fairbairn appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, where he admitted hurling verbal threats to police when they met him on Park Street, Aberdeen, in April this year.
Standing in his boxer shorts, the 38-year-old told the two officers he would “burst” them and “put the hit” on them.
He then kicked one of them as they tried to get him into a police van.
Tain man had more than 200 indecent images of children
A Tain man was caught with more than 200 indecent images of children stored on his devices.
Police seized mobile phones, a hard drive and laptop from Peter Foster’s home and found sick photos of children aged six to 15.
Some of the photographs were classed as category A – showing the most serious abuse.
Highland League footballer fined after exposing himself in Aberdeen city centre
A Highland League footballer has been fined after admitting a charge of public indecency during a night out in Aberdeen.
Cameron Heslop, 24, who plays for Huntly FC, appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court to admit exposing his penis whilst on Union Street last year.
The court heard that shortly after midnight on September 8 last year, Heslop was walking from Union Street to Bon Accord Street and stopped in front of a police van, which was stationary at the traffic lights.
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Man jailed after brutal attack within Elgin Sheriff Court
A man has been jailed after he carried out a brutal revenge attack inside the halls of Elgin Sheriff Court.
Lossiemouth man Tony Arbuthnot permanently disfigured his victim during the assault, which saw him kick and punch the man to the ground and then flee the scene.
Defence solicitor Brent Lockie told Inverness Sheriff Court that his client, who pleaded guilty to assaulting his victim to his permanent disfigurement, had been the recipient of an earlier attack involving members of the man’s family.
Elgin man who ‘identifies as a car’ made racist remarks after being refused food at drive-thru
A Buckie man who told fast food workers he should be allowed to order from the drive-thru because he “identifies as a car” went on to make a series of racist remarks.
Ryan Morrison appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court on Thursday for sentencing after having earlier admitted to acting in an aggressive manner at the McDonald’s restaurant on Linkwood Place on March 26 this year.
Deferring sentence on the case for one month, Sheriff David Harvie branded the 39-year-old’s behaviour “appalling”.
Nairn man jailed for sex assaults on young girls
A Nairn man has been jailed after sexually assaulting two girls.
One of Gary Powell’s victims was under 13 years old, the other under 16 at the time of the assaults in 2023.
He told one of his victims: “You are practically a woman,” and asked the other: “Is this how you play with your boyfriend?”
Drug-addled pair attacked neighbour during baseball bat disturbance
A pair who got involved in a vicious crack cocaine-induced baseball bat assault on their neighbour have been warned they are in the “last chance saloon”.
Callum Mathieson, 29, and Elizabeth Milne, 31, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where they admitted the assault at a flat in the Northfield area of the city.
During a hallway scuffle, Mathieson struck his neighbour across the head with a baseball bat.
Lorry driver jailed after hitting charity cyclist on the A9
An HGV driver has been jailed after he hit a Land’s End to John O’Groats charity cyclist on the A9, leaving him seriously injured.
James McTaggart failed to spot James Baker as he drove north on the trunk road between Dunkeld and Pitlochry.
Dashcam footage from his lorry was played to Inverness Sheriff Court and showed the moment he collided with Mr Baker’s bicycle in the early hours of the morning.