Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Man struck woman on face
A man who threatened to glass a woman before striking her on the side of the face has avoided jail.
Dale Standen had been drinking heavily for days before the incident outside Max’s Takeaway in Inverness city centre.
He told the woman “I will glass you”, but when she smashed the glass out of his hand, he struck her on the side of the head instead.
Drink-driver was more than five times the limit
A drink-driver with an “extremely high” breath alcohol level was seen hitting a kerb and swerving into oncoming traffic.
Matthew Varley had been drinking at home when he received a phone call from an upset friend and decided to drive to be with her.
But witnesses who were concerned about his driving called the police and they found him to be more than five times the drink-drive limit.
Varley, 47, admitted a single drink-driving charge at Inverness Sheriff Court.
Chef hounded ex-girlfriend
A rejected ex-boyfriend hounded a woman with 200 calls and 80 texts then told her he’d show her “what a monster truly is” after their relationship ended.
Chay Cargill sent the unwanted messages and made numerous calls to the woman after their one-year relationship came to an end in June last year.
The 26-year-old pestered the woman with more than 200 calls and voicemails between July 1 and August 7, 2021, Elgin Sheriff Court heard.
Thief flooded North Sea with sewage
A thief snuck into a Scottish Water plant and managed to release three million litres of raw, untreated sewage into the North Sea.
Andrew Shepherd was discovered sleeping in a changing room at the plant on Coast Road, Aberdeen, after having clambered through an unlocked window.
The 41-year-old ransacked drawers but also tampered with a control panel, shutting off power and causing raw sewage to pour into the sea.
Masked man repeated stabbed rival
A man has been jailed for three years after he chased a rival through Fraserburgh at night while wearing a mask, before stabbing him repeatedly.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that Daniel Hewison, 24, had “bad blood” with his victim due to a dispute over a debt.
The victim began receiving threatening messages from a phone number he did not recognise at 8pm on November 28 last year.
Army veteran jailed after repeatedly raping woman
An army veteran who repeatedly raped a woman and smeared blood on her face during one of the attacks has been jailed for 50 months.
Robert Millar first assaulted his victim at an address in Elgin on June 1 2020 when he seized her by the neck before subjecting her to a repeated rape ordeal.
The 34-year-old struck again on September 23 that year at a flat in the town.
Twisted domestic abuser
A serial domestic abuser who forced his girlfriend to dig a grave for their miscarried baby with her bare hands has been jailed.
Kevin Anderson was branded “a serious risk to any woman” after a court heard of his campaigns of violent and controlling abuse towards two girlfriends over the course of five years.
He pushed his pregnant partner down a flight of stairs, causing her to miscarry, and stabbed another woman in the leg with a pair of scissors, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
Crimes to fashion
A man who tried to break into an Aberdeen flat was caught thanks to his distinctive red hair and socks and sandals combo.
Jack Smith startled a woman when he appeared at her kitchen window on Gerrard Street and tried to reach his hand inside.
The brave woman confronted the 29-year-old, who she spotted on her CCTV after hearing a loud bang when Smith kicked the window.
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Grinning child rapist jailed
A man who laughed after being found guilty of repeatedly raping a child has a “genuine” feeling of remorse, his lawyer told a court.
James Freeman, 50, was jailed seven years at the hearing by judge Simon Collins QC at the High Court in Edinburgh.
The court had previously heard how Freeman wished he had a time machine so he could travel back in time to stop himself from preying on the woman.
Schoolgirl sexually assaulted at beauty spot
A terrified schoolgirl was chased by a cyclist and sexually assaulted in broad daylight at a popular beauty spot in Moray.
Benjamin Mearns, 43, grabbed the 14-year-old girl and exposed her breasts near the River Spey at Fochabers.
The disturbing attack came after the girl and her friends made their way home from an afternoon of swimming at the river.
Man accused of high-rise poo spree
A man has appeared in court facing more than a dozen charges of smearing poo on doors and lifts in an Aberdeen block of flats.
Husein Sharif, 38, appeared from custody at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in relation to the alleged offences, which took place over the course of a month at Hutcheon Court.
Sharif, who also lives in the high-rise building, is alleged to have committed 14 breaches of the peace by “depositing faecal matter” on the front doors of his neighbours, communal doors and lifts.
The alleged offences were committed between June 2 and July 3.
Milkman held knife to wife’s chest
A milkman held a bread knife to his wife’s chest following a row after she found messages on his iPad.
Robert Ritchie walked to the kitchen to get the blade as the couple argued at their home on Westray Road in Aberdeen on January 22.
The 57-year-old marched up to the woman and held the knife to her chest.
£1 million cannabis farmer jailed
Cannabis worth almost £1 million was recovered from a drugs farm which had been set up by two illegal immigrants in a former Moray hotel, a court has heard.
The massive cultivation was discovered in September 2020, when residents in Buckie reported to police a strong smell coming from the old Highlander Hotel.
Officers obtained a search warrant for the premises, which have been closed since 2019, and arrested two Vietnamese men, following a brief chase.
Woman tried to punch bouncer
A woman tried to punch an Aberdeen nightclub bouncer after accusing them of letting in underagers.
Nichole Bonner approached bouncers outside Priory on Belmont Street just before midnight and began accusing them of allowing underage people inside the venue.
But when they tried to ignore her and asked her to leave, the 24-year-old flew into a rage and started shouting and swearing.
When Bonner threw an unsuccessful punch toward one of the bouncers she was restrained to the ground.
TV presenter’s neighbour accused of stalking
A former Aberdeen TV news presenter wept as she told a court her “obsessed” next-door neighbour “terrorised” her so badly she has had to move out of her own home.
Isla Traquair suffered nightmares and panic attacks due to the attention of Jonathan Barrett, who allegedly appeared at her conservatory window at 7am as she was about to undress and on another occasion “chainsawed” a bush in her garden.
The ex-STV and Channel 5 News presenter became terrified of “weird” Barrett who shocked her soon after she moved in by climbing over a wall into her garden and entering her house to offer her a sandwich, the court heard.
Danger driver fell out of car
A dangerous driver fell out of his car as he left a trail of destruction through Aberdeen while unfit to drive through drink or drugs.
Robert Labutin was involved in two separate crashes with other vehicles as he sped and swerved through Aberdeen.
At one point, the 44-year-old was even seen falling out of his car, before getting back in and driving along the pavement, forcing a pedestrian to jump out of the way.
Neighbour guilty of stalking
A professional gardener was today convicted of stalking a former Aberdeen TV presenter as magistrates ruled he had become “infatuated” with her when she moved in next door.
Isla Traquair suffered nightmares and panic attacks due to the attention of Jonathan Barrett, who stared into her bedroom window and “chainsawed” a bush in her garden.
The ex-STV and Channel 5 news presenter said Barrett “terrorised” her for seven months between March and September 2021 after she moved into her idyllic 1700s country cottage, on the edge of the Cotswolds.
Teen who took knife to school told to behave
A teen who took a knife into school in Aberdeenshire has escaped punishment – but received a stern warning from a sheriff.
The 17-year-old boy previously pled guilty to possessing a knife in the secondary school in Aberdeenshire.
The Press and Journal is not allowed to name the teen or the school for legal reasons.
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Man verbally abused Tory leader
A man who called Moray MP Douglas Ross a “f****** Tory” and compared the Conservative Party to Nazis has since adopted a “more measured way of communicating”, a court has heard.
David Levon, 59, shouted and swore at the politician and his staff during a foul-mouthed rant that left the leader of the Scottish Conservatives fearing for his own safety.
Levon, a musician from Forres, was found guilty of being threatening and abusive on two occasions at the MP’s constituency office on the town’s High Street.
Drink-driver ploughed into lamppost
A drink-driver mounted the pavement and smashed into a lamppost while almost six times the legal booze limit.
James Gordon’s driving was so shocking that one concerned witness phoned the police and followed him.
They saw his work van clip another car, smashing its wing mirror off, and continue driving until he collided with a lamppost while trying to take a corner.
WATCH: 60 dogs saved and rehomed after brutal puppy farm uncovered
The lives of dozens of poorly dogs have been saved after they were rescued from squalid living conditions on a puppy farm and found loving homes.
Almost 60 dogs were seized by the SSPCA from Balnamoon farm, near Keith, but, with two of them pregnant, the animal welfare charity landed up caring for 78 dogs in total.
One dog was pregnant with its third litter of the year – one more than is allowed in its lifetime – and died during birth in what was thought to be caused by overbreeding.
Student’s sick calls to women
An Aberdeen University law student who terrified three fellow students with a series of sexually-threatening calls was caught when one of his victims turned the tables on him.
Adam Fowlie, 23, hid his phone number and disguised his voice with an automated voice generator when he made the menacing calls to three women.
He told one “I want to rape you” and then, chillingly, mentioned her name and where she lives.
School janitor banned
A drink-driving Aberdeenshire school janitor has been banned from the road and hit with a fine.
Alan MacMillan was seen swerving across the A96 by an alarmed member of the public, who alerted police.
Officers located the 42-year-old on the Inverurie to Huntly road near the junction with the unclassified Harlaw road.
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