Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Woman was six-times the limit
A woman whose Land Rover was seen weaving all over the road was later tested and found to be nearly six times the drink-drive limit.
Sarah Wilson, 55, was reported to police by a concerned motorist who watched her black 4×4 being driven erratically and striking grass verges on roads near Kemnay.
When the driver pulled up alongside Wilson’s vehicle and spoke to her they noticed she had a golden labrador in the car and appeared to be drunk.
Tesco worker stole tools after row over smoke alarms
A Tesco worker stole thousands of pounds of power tools after a “campaign” against him when he told bosses that the store’s smoke alarms were five years out of date, a court has heard.
Artur Dziubinski claims management at Tesco in Ellon wanted to “get him out” after he discovered the alarms were five years old and would need to be replaced.
As part of his role as a maintenance man at the store, he was allowed to order tools and materials – however, when he resigned from the job he did not return them.
Cannabis dealer caught
A drug dealer who was caught by police with more than £2,000 worth of cannabis in a car told officers “oh, that’s mine”.
Darren Small, 32, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis after he was caught with thousands of pounds of the drug.
Officers found several bags that contained more than £2,000 of cannabis.
Horror movie blackmailer
A blackmailer who became “obsessed” with paedophile hunters has been jailed after trying to extort innocent men out of tens of thousands of pounds.
Tesco worker Thomas McAlinden posed as a female called Cody online in order to get talking to his victims, who he then arranged to meet before making threats and financial demands.
In one sinister incident, the 25-year-old chased a man with learning difficulties home, then sent him a Whatsapp message featuring a picture of the doll from the horror film Saw along with the words: “Do you want to play a game?”
Reprehensible conman
A former bin man has been jailed for more than three years after he scammed vulnerable pensioners out of more than £15,000.
Kristopher Simpson, 44, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted stealing the five-figure sum from three OAPs.
The court was told Simpson and an accomplice sometimes posed as police officers so they could siphon money from a victim’s account.
‘I’ll smash your windows and kill you all!’
A woman made a chilling late-night threat to her neighbours by shouting in the street that they should not “mess” with her or she would “kill them all”.
Eve Crawford, 23, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted behaving in a threatening manner towards her neighbours as she walked down the street.
When police officers responded to a report of her aggressive behaviour by one resident, Crawford repeatedly bit, kicked, punched and spat at them.
She also used racial and homophobic slurs against the constables.
Bored teen’s sick child abuse haul
A “bored” teenager has been caught with almost two days’ worth of “horrifying” sadomasochistic child abuse videos and bestiality.
Oren Bruce was caught with the sickening collection of vile videos when the police received intelligence he had uploaded a video of child sexual abuse to Snapchat.
Officers raided the 18-year-old’s home and seized and examined a black Sony mobile phone which was found to contain more than 1,000 images and videos.
The teen cited “boredom” and a lack of routine as an explanation for his twisted collection.
Catfish excuse
A man who was found guilty of sending an indecent image of himself to an underage girl online has been placed on the sex offender’s register for three years.
Scott Gerrard faced accusations that he chatted to a 13-year-old decoy called ‘Ruby’ and sent her a picture of his private parts despite knowing she was a child.
A trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard the 35-year-old chatted to the decoy account for months after it was created by a member of a paedophile hunter group.
Drunk racist abducted neighbour
A drunken racist described as “the poster child for extreme alcohol misuse” has been handed unpaid work after abducting his neighbour in an incident that was livestreamed on Facebook by a “baying mob”.
Shaun Dunbar locked the terrified woman inside his flat in Aberdeen’s Byron Square for more than 30 minutes after she came to collect a drum kit, which she’d previously bought from him.
The woman’s screams for help caught the attention of nearby residents and a crowd began to gather outside the property, with some filming the events and broadcasting them live on social media.
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Teen attacker gets unpaid work
A teenage attacker who repeatedly punched a man while telling him he was “being victimised” has been handed unpaid work in the community.
Max Hosie appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted pummelling the man in the street as he was making his way home from a friend’s house near Broomhill Road in Aberdeen.
The court heard the 19-year-old punched his victim to the ground before sitting on top of him.
As Hosie rained down blows on the man, he told him: “You’re a victim.”
Offshore boss’ child abuse shame
The boss of a north-east offshore firm has been found with thousands of child sex abuse images on his computer.
Baxter ‘Harry’ Anderson, 67, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted hoarding more than 2,600 images of children on his devices.
Police also found more than 20 videos that continued child sex abuse material.
Law student’s campaign of abuse
A former Aberdeen law student has been ordered to stay away from his ex-partner after he subjected her to a campaign of verbal abuse and accusations for more than a year.
Raymond Adibe Chisom, 33, pleaded guilty to repeatedly calling his former girlfriend “stupid”, “an imbecile” and forcing her to admit she was cheating on him when she wasn’t.
The woman told police that she rarely left her home for fear of further accusations from Adibe Chisom.
Police officer accused of sex assault
A serving police officer has been suspended and is facing trial accused of a sex attack on a woman in an Aberdeen nightclub.
James Flaherty denies sexually assaulting the 20-year-old at Prohibition on Langstane Place on January 30.
It is alleged Flaherty, 25, repeatedly seized her by the body, repeatedly pulled her towards him, repeatedly attempted to kiss her and repeatedly grabbed her buttocks.
He is also alleged to have placed his hand beneath her upper clothing and handled her breast.
Revenge fire farmer back in trouble
A farmer who previously started a £300,000 fire as an act of revenge has found himself back in court and admitted wasting police time by making false 999 calls.
Ryan Milne had a drunken falling out with a group of friends and decided to call 999 to accuse them of crimes.
He first claimed a friend was drink-driving, then called back a few minutes later to accuse him of punching a woman.
It’s not the first time the 24-year-old has broken the law to get back at someone.
Police officer accused of domestic abuse
A north-east police officer has appeared in court facing an allegation of domestic abuse.
Emma Willmott, 23, is accused of engaging in a course of behaviour that was abusive to her partner at an address in Aberdeen over a four-month period.
Willmott is accused of repeatedly threatening to report her partner to police, which would impact his career.
Machete attack sparks drug find
A drug dealer was caught with more than £3,000 of cocaine when police responded to a report of him being jumped in a supermarket car park.
Jack Watt had been sitting in a car at Morrisons on King Street, Aberdeen, when two males entered the rear of the vehicle with a machete.
When the police came to the 24-year-old’s aid they searched the vehicle to check if the weapon had been left behind and discovered 26.93g of cocaine, worth up to £3,300.
Teen driver killed best friend in crash
A teenager who drove at excessive speed has admitted causing the death of his 16-year-old best friend during two car crashes on the A9 near Inverness.
New driver Connor Lawless admitted causing Gregor McIntosh’s death by driving without due care and attention near North Kessock on December 20 2019.
Gregor McIntosh, who was a front seat passenger in Lawless’ Vauxhall Corsa, suffered fatal injuries in the collision and later died at Raigmore Hospital.
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Every day our reporters are sitting in courtrooms around the area and now you can get their stories sent directly to you, five days a week.
Nurse hauled into court for going on holiday
A sheriff has apologised to a young Aberdeen nurse after she was arrested and taken to court in handcuffs following a paperwork mix-up.
Miah Duffy, 22, spent a “degrading” night in the cells after she was falsely accused of contempt of court because she had gone to Ibiza on holiday.
The NHS worker was arrested because she didn’t appear as a witness at a trial in June.
Abuser finally sentenced
An abusive ex-boyfriend has finally been sentenced more than two years after he admitted to sending his former partner offensive text messages.
Nikki Brown’s antics caused more than two dozen delays to his trial during which he repeatedly switched his plea, dismissed his legal representation and failed to turn up.
They even prompted a question about the case to the First Minister in the Scottish Parliament.
Cocaine Covid restrictions
A man who wanted to minimise contact with his drug dealer during lockdown bulk bought cocaine.
Nicholas McIntosh told police who smelled cannabis coming from his car that he had cocaine, officers then recovered 27.24 grams of the drug.
But McIntosh’s solicitor told the court his client had bought a large quantity of the substance to avoid multiple meet ups with a drug dealer during the Covid restrictions.
McIntosh, 40, of Strathdon, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court for sentencing having previously pled guilty to a single charge of possession of a class A controlled drug.
Sheriff Peter Grant-Hutchison handed him a community payback order with one year’s supervision and 90 hours of unpaid work.
Bad parking sparks brutal attack
An Aberdeen taxi driver has had to give up work after a vicious attack by his neighbour over a parking space.
Jamie Stroud, 30, left his victim with a bleed on the brain after the sustained assault outside his home.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard the attack, in Aberdeen’s Larch Road, also happened in full view of the victim’s nine-year-old son.
Man accused of Skye shootings
A man has appeared in court accused of the shotgun murder of his brother-in-law and attempting to murder his wife and another couple in Skye and Lochalsh.
Finlay MacDonald, 39, was arrested on Wednesday after a series of incidents spanning three different locations up to 34 miles apart.
MacDonald appeared in private at Inverness Sheriff Court this afternoon facing one murder charge and three attempted murder charges.
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