Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Spanish extradition
A man who was arrested by police in Spain in connection with an alleged ‘county lines’ drugs operation in Aberdeen has appeared in court.
Patrick Morgan, 26, was arrested by cops on an international warrant on November 2 in Alicante – bringing an end to a long investigation by Police Scotland’s Fugitive Active Search Team and the North-East Division’s Organised Crime Unit.
He has now appeared in private at Aberdeen Sheriff Court facing two charges of being concerned in the supply of drugs.
The 26-year-old did not enter a plea during the behind-closed-doors hearing.
High-rise furniture tosser
A yob is back behind bars – just days after being released from prison – after throwing furniture out of an Aberdeen high-rise window as members of the public walked below.
Angus Hughes, 25, flung a small table, a kitchen drawer and at least one kitchen pot from the 10th storey window of his flat in Stockethill Court in the Mastrick area of the city last Sunday.
Fiscal depute Emma Petersen told Aberdeen Sheriff Court neighbours saw furniture flying past their windows and crashing to the footpath below at around 2.15pm.
Bad hair day
An unhappy customer threatened to burn down an Aberdeen barbershop after they refused him a refund when he decided he didn’t like his haircut.
Graham Milne had paid for his new do from The Barber’s Pole salon in the Lang Stracht shopping centre – but moments later decided it wasn’t to his liking.
Miffed Milne told his hairdresser he would “put the shop on fire and smash the windows” after they refused his demand for a refund.
Wheelchair-bound man forced to move home
A wheelchair-bound man with paraplegia was driven from his home by a bitter dispute with his neighbour – who taunted him over his disability.
The disabled man had been in a boundary dispute with his neighbour Ivan Mackay, who has now been fined in court over his behaviour.
Mackay, 46, pled guilty to a single charge of threatening or abusive behaviour aggravated by prejudice related to disability at Tain Sheriff Court.
Threats to blow up hospital
A Highland man who threatened to blow up a hospital has avoided prison due to suffering from mental health issues.
Malcolm Stone, 61, also smashed a shop window, racially abused a bank worker and threatened police, pharmacy and hospital staff earlier this year.
Tain Sheriff Court heard that all of the behaviour took place while Stone was unmedicated for mental health issues.
Rapist said he had a ‘God-given right’
A north-east rapist who told a victim that he had a “God-given right” to have intercourse with her was jailed for seven years on Tuesday.
Former oil industry worker David Cox, 70, subjected two women to rape ordeals and preyed on a little girl from the age of four.
A judge told Cox at the High Court in Edinburgh: “Custody is the only appropriate disposal having regard to the serious nature of your offending.”
He earlier denied a series of offences but was found guilty of three rape charges and a further crime of indecent conduct towards the child at a trial
All the crimes were committed at Banchory and occurred between 1983 and 2013.
Rapist found guilty after trial
A sex offender has been found guilty of raping two teenage girls and of planning to rape a third.
Matthew Watson, 36, was found guilty of three counts of rape, one charge of intent to rape and one count of using lewd, indecent and libidinous practices involving a girl under 16 following a week-long trial at the High Court in Aberdeen.
He also admitted a further 13 sexual offences relating to several other girls aged between 13 to 16.
Spar’s social-distancing rules anger man
A former soldier has appeared in court after he took exception to a local shop’s social distancing rules.
Graeme King refused to leave the Spar store or adhere to the two-metre rule and then threw his groceries and a mobile phone at the counter.
Police were eventually called and the 46-year-old was charged with threatening or abusive behaviour.
Builder banned after refusing breath test
A construction worker who refused a breath test made a “catastrophic error of judgement” when he got behind the wheel, a court has heard.
Remus Colceriu declined to give a sample of breath after being arrested by police but did tell them: “I have been drinking alcohol.”
Aberdeen Sheriff Court also heard that Mr Colceriu laughed at officers and described the situation as “funny”.
Colceriu admitted one charge of failing to provide two specimens of breath.
Man in court after £200k drugs find
A man has been charged after more than £200,000 worth of drugs were found at a property in Aberdeen.
Charles Fairburn, 55, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court facing three charges relating to a cache of Class A drugs found during a search of a home in Garthdee.
Police Scotland’s North East Division announced it had seized a significant stash of heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine at an address on Craigievar Terrace.
Driver put his foot down to outrun cops
A driver who only had a provisional licence put his foot down when he spotted police, running a red light and swerving across lanes of the A9 in an attempt to lose them.
David McDonough was driving a Volkswagen Passat on the A9 at Kingussie when the dangerous pursuit began, Inverness Sheriff Court was told on Wednesday.
The 28-year-old ignored a stop signal at road works and drove on the opposite side of the road in an attempt to lose the officers.
But he didn’t succeed and, when finally stopped, it was discovered he had no licence or insurance.
OAP quizzed Pride organiser about ‘perversions’
A pensioner has been found guilty of sending the organiser of Grampian Pride an email asking why he was pushing his “sexuality perversions into everybody’s face”.
Thomas Owenson fired off the abusive communication to Deejay Bullock after becoming aggravated that a rainbow flag was to be flown above council headquarters to celebrate the LGBT History Month.
Owenson – who says he was raised according to “strict Christian beliefs” – strongly denied the email was homophobic or that there was any malice when he asked Mr Bullock: “Why can’t you be like normal people?”
Drink-driver flouted roads ban
A serial drink-driver was just two days shy of getting his licence back when he was caught over-the-limit again in Aberdeen.
James O’Connor had previously been disqualified for persistently driving whilst banned, without insurance or under influence.
The 56-year-old has now lost his job, his licence, and even his car after he was caught behind the wheel in the city centre on October 18.
Twin brothers charged with murder
Twin brothers have appeared in the dock accused of murdering charity cyclist Anthony Parsons.
Mr Parsons, 63, was last seen cycling from Fort William to his home in Tillicoultry, near Stirling, before he went missing in 2017.
The former Navy petty officer had been in the area for a charity cycle.
The last sighting of him was on October 2 2017 outside the Bridge of Orchy Hotel.
Thug jailed for catalogue of abuse
A thug was jailed on Thursday over a “catalogue of violence and abuse” against two former partners stretching back almost a decade.
Jamie Stewart subject two women to horrific domestic abuse at addresses in Aberdeen, smashing a plate over one partner’s head and elbowing her in the head while she was pregnant.
The 30-year-old also headbutted, choked and even bit a second partner, as well as threatening to kill her father and her dogs.
Italian restaurant accused of selling watered-down booze
A popular Aberdeen city-centre restaurant is facing allegations it sold watered-down and counterfeit alcoholic drinks to the public.
Italian restaurant La Lombarda is accused of selling gin and vodka that was not the brand it suggested and that its alcohol percentage was less than advertised.
The charges state that a La Lombarda boss replaced Gordon’s Dry Gin and Smirnoff Triple Distilled Vodka with another, less alcoholic spirit but advertised and sold them as the well-known brands.
It is claimed the alleged food regulation breaches were discovered on March 21 2019 when the King Street restaurant was visited by an environmental health officer, who ordered and was sold the drinks.
The restaurant and its owner deny all the charges against them
Strip club assault
A dad who punched a member of staff in the face as they attempted to throw him out of a strip club has admitted assault.
Ryan Hempkin was being ejected from the Private Eyes gentlemen’s club in Academy Street, Inverness, when he lashed out and punched a member of the venue’s staff.
He then attempted to bite the man, and when police were called to deal with the incident he tried to bite an officer as well.
Man threatened wife’s pet dog
A Moray man told his wife he might kill her pet dog before hurling vile insults during a drunken argument overhead by neighbours.
Gordon Dunbar, 61, called his wife of 20 years a “slut” during the alcohol-fuelled fallout at the pair’s home in Brodie Drive in September.
His vile rant was overheard by neighbours through the open door and when one concerned lady came to check on the ruckus he flung a glass vase at her.
Man admits dangerous driving
A man has admitted causing another driver serious injury by dangerous driving in a horror crash on the A96 in Aberdeenshire.
Emergency services raced to the scene of the collision on the Aberdeen to Inverness road near Mill of Pitcaple around 8pm on November 10 last year.
And now Damian Kukulski has appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted culpability over the crash.
Dad smuggled drugs to pay for son’s eye operation
A dad who smuggled thousands of pounds of cannabis into the Highlands to pay for a sight-saving operation for his young son has been jailed for 15 months.
Patrick Boyland’s drug dealing was “an act of desperation” driven by his desire to save his child’s eyesight, Inverness Sheriff Court was told.
The 37-year-old planned to sell almost 2kgs of the Class B drug for £16,500 to help finance the £50,000 surgery costs.
Motherwell fans in court
Four Motherwell fans appeared in court on Friday charged over alleged disorder outside an Aberdeen bar before a football match at Pittodrie.
Paul Marshall, 19, Connor McDiarmid, 20, Dylan Nicholls, 22, and a 16-year-old male, who cannot be named for legal reasons, all pled not guilty to a charge of breach of the peace relating to an incident at the Scotia Bar on Summerfield Terrace.
It’s alleged the group, while acting along with others, conducted themselves in a disorderly manner by acting in an aggressive manner, shouting, swearing, repeatedly striking windows, challenging others to fight, engaging in a fight with others, and repeatedly threw objects towards the doorway of the bar.
Aberdeen pub boss jailed for dealing cocaine
A prominent Aberdeen pub boss sobbed in the dock as he was jailed for dealing cocaine.
Paul Clarkson – whose family firm PB Devco owns pubs and restaurants including Soul, The Draft Project and Vovem – broke down in tears as Sheriff Morag McLaughlin passed sentence at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
The court was told he felt “shame” about how he had behaved and “how it reflects on his family”.
Dealer tried to pass off coffee as heroin
A lout met pals at an Aberdeen bar to sell them heroin, but punched one and stole the other’s phone when they discovered the class A drug was actually coffee.
Paul Harper tried to shift the blame to his supplier when challenged over the bags of coffee, Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard, and borrowed a mobile phone to call them.
But, according to prosecutors, the 33-year-old decided he would keep the phone, and punched the partner of the woman he stole it from when he tried to grab it back.
Man must stay away from ex for five years
A man has been ordered to stay away from his ex-partner for five years after he was caught sneaking into her home using a key he had kept without her knowledge.
Austin Forbes, 44, was discovered within the property of his former partner on several occasions after the two had split up in early 2019.
The woman only managed to figure out how he was getting in when she caught him rifling through her handbag in the dead of night with a set of keys in his hand.
Prohibition attack
A man who headbutted a reveller unconscious in an Aberdeen nightclub has been ordered to pay his victim £750 over the “nasty” assault.
Corrie Smith lashed out in Prohibition on Langstane Place after mistakenly thinking the fellow reveller had pushed him.
The 27-year-old headbutted his victim, causing him to fall unconscious, then punched him in the face as he fell to the floor.
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