Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Man traumatised after finding James Bulger
A man who was found carrying a knife in just his underwear has been handed a three-year supervision order after it emerged he discovered the body of murdered toddler James Bulger when he was a teenager.
James Riley was dumped out of a car and onto an Aberdeen street after having been stripped of his clothes and searched for money.
He was also carrying an eight-inch knife and tried to hide it under a car when police approached him on Cornhill Drive on April 25.
Young driver spooked horses
A young driver who spooked two horses on a snow-covered north-east road has avoided a driving disqualification.
Myles Ross ignored pleas from one of the horse riders to slow down on a country road near Banff last Boxing Day.
Despite the icy conditions and glare from low sunshine the 20-year-old was driving at around 60mph when he passed the horses.
Domestic abuser’s terrifying threats
A violent thug subjected his partner to domestic violence then warned her “she would never be safe” if she told the police about the repeated abuse.
Ross Tappenden had only been out of prison for a matter of weeks before he began beating, punching and threatening his partner of three years.
The 41-year-old smashed his girlfriend’s head off of doors, told he her could “kill her if he wanted to”, and threatened to have her followed by his friends and family if she reported him to police.
Cocaine-filled pants
A teenager who walked in on a police raid at his home had hundreds of pounds of class A drugs stuffed down his underpants.
Wesley Taylor had 44 wraps of cocaine, valued at £640, hidden in his underwear when he was searched by police in Fraserburgh.
It was Taylor’s second run-in with the police, Peterhead Sheriff Court was told.
Danger driver jailed
A man has been jailed after he was caught speeding dangerously through Aberdeen while already banned from driving.
Simon Arthurs was chased by police on King Street after he was spotted weaving between vehicles and overtaking cars at high speed on August 5 this year.
Cops saw the 29-year-old attempt to overtake a car by dangerously veering into the oncoming lane before having to pull out of the manoeuvre.
He then drove over a roundabout and disappeared from police sight.
Buckfast bottler
On Tuesday, a man who hit a partygoer on the head with a bottle of Buckfast was jailed for a year.
Ryan Simpson, 24, was no longer welcome at a house party when he tried to return uninvited on February 10 this year.
But when another guest remonstrated with him, he grabbed a bottle of Buckfast and hit the man on the head with it.
Renee MacRae murder trial delay
The trial date for a man accused of murdering Inverness mum Renee MacRae and her son Andrew in 1976 has been delayed once again.
A hearing was scheduled for the High Court in Inverness today when it was hoped it would be announced when and where 79-year-old William MacDowell, now of Penrith, would stand trial.
Renee and Andrew MacRae disappeared in 1976. However it didn’t call as the hearing was “administratively discharged”, a High Court spokesman said.
It has now been fixed for the High Court in Livingston for November 23 before Lord Armstrong.
Vicious city centre attacks
A woman who carried out two violent street attacks was ordered to carry out unpaid work in the community.
Ashleigh McAuley, 31, admitted savagely assaulting a man and punching a shop worker in the face while in Aberdeen city centre last year.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard how McAuley immediately confessed to both offences as police turned up to arrest her.
Dog left in car on ‘scorching’ day
On Wednesday, a carer escaped punishment after being found guilty of leaving her dog unattended in a car on a “scorching” hot July day.
Hazel Donald was convicted of “failing to provide a suitable environment” for Biggie, her Johnson American Bulldog.
The 54-year-old left him unattended in her vehicle in direct sunlight, with inadequate ventilation and hydration, and no means of escape, exposing him to “excessive temperatures”.
Man accused of hitting pigs with hammer
A farmworker is facing court over allegations he repeatedly struck pigs with a hammer and failed to “humanely euthanise” them.
Andrew Munro is facing a total of five charges over his conduct relating to pigs at Yonderton Farm in Ellon.
Two charges allege that the 47-year-old caused a pig “unnecessary suffering” by repeatedly striking it with a hammer, failing to euthanise it humanely, on January 2 and 6 this year.
Teens appear in court
Two people have appeared at court after more than £13,000 of goods were stolen in a spate of garage break-ins.
Aidan Chalmers, 21, and a 17-year-old youth – who cannot be named for legal reasons – both appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and made no plea before being released on bail.
Both were charged with housebreaking and housebreaking with intent to steal.
Jailed for high-speed chase
A north-east man suspected of being involved in a County Lines drug supply operation led police on a high-speed through narrow country roads.
Russell Burnett, from Fraserburgh, was jailed for nine months today after admitting driving dangerously and failing to stop for officers.
Police intelligence has suggested Burnett’s car may be linked to County Lines drug trafficking and officers in an unmarked vehicle attempted to intercept his journey from Liverpool to Fraserburgh.
Drunk drove into wall
On Thursday, a drink driver was jailed after he ploughed into a garden wall during a police chase.
Scott Anderson was over the limit, had no licence or insurance and was driving a car that was dangerously defective, Lerwick Sheriff Court heard.
Jailing him for 14 months, Sheriff Ian Cruickshank branded it a “horrendous example of dangerous driving” which demonstrated a “high degree of culpability”.
Drug driver was ‘needle phobic’
A driver who refused to give a sample of blood after a roadside drug swab tested positive for cocaine claimed he was unable to comply because he was needle phobic.
Police stopped Thomas Stewart’s Ford Transit van on the A9 near Tore in the early hours of May 27 last year after seeing it driving without lights.
But when they smelled cannabis coming from inside they searched the vehicle and conducted a roadside drug wipe test on Stewart, 27, which came back positive for cocaine.
‘Polish pigs’ insult
A man who called his daughter’s boyfriend’s parents “Polish pigs” and threatened to batter them must complete 80 hours of unpaid work.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard that Stuart McConnachie telephoned the couple, who were actually Macedonian, and made the racially aggravated comments on March 10 2019
Fiscal depute David Morton told the court that the incident took place against the background of an ongoing disagreement and that during the phone call McConnachie had called them “Polish pigs” and said: “Why are you coming to Inverness? I’m going to batter you all.”
Man pours his heart out pre-punch
On Friday, a man who professed his love for a woman then punched her in the face when she turned him down appeared in court.
Gvidas Sumanas had been drinking with the woman and a male friend all night when he decided to pour his heart out.
However, the female was “having none of it” and lashed out at the 37-year-old, who responded by punching her in the face.
Soldier brandished scissors at ex
A soldier who locked his former fiancée in a bedroom and assaulted her has been fined – but may still face the Army’s own discipline.
Robin Nicol, 20, knocked on the woman’s door on January 21 of this year and then ran into her home and up to her bedroom, Inverness Sheriff Court heard yesterday.
After she followed him in, he locked the bedroom door.
Cocaine hidden in pants
A man who was caught with 27g of cocaine hidden in his underpants has avoided jail after admitting being concerned in the supply of drugs.
Derek Culross was stopped by police on the A9 northbound at Daviot Woods on May 25 last year after intelligence indicated he was travelling to Inverness supplying drugs.
Fiscal depute Ruaridh Allison told the court the 65-year-old informed officers he was travelling to the Highland city to visit a friend, despite the fact that lockdown travel restrictions were in place at the time.
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