Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Fare-dodger told to pay up
A fare-dodger threatened to “smack” a taxi driver – and his car – after taking him on a whistlestop tour of Aberdeen.
Dylan Stewart asked the driver to take him to no less than five different locations across the city before eventually disappearing without paying.
The 25-year-old told the driver he’d be back shortly to pay, but when he didn’t reappear the driver phoned him.
Stewart then threatened to assault the driver if he ever called again.
Paedophile caught by FIVE decoys
An Aberdeenshire man has been placed on the sex offender’s register after he was caught by paedophile hunters chatting to what he believed to be five underage girls.
Michael Burr, 57, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted communicating with decoy Facebook accounts created in order to snare men chatting to children online.
Burr asked the 13 and 14-year-old ‘children’ for naked pictures of themselves and sent indecent pictures of himself.
Woman sold drugs to schoolboy
A 22-year-old woman who sold “dregs” of drugs to a boy aged just 15 has been spared jail.
Christy Robson was spotted by officers as she passed the Class A drugs out of her car window to the teenager near Banchory.
She received a handful of notes from the boy, who was with a number of other males, in exchange for a small bag of drugs.
A search of her home and car later turned up drugs worth £4,000 and cash totalling £5,438.
Dad turned to dealing during pandemic
A drug-dealing dad who turned to selling cocaine and heroin in order to “provide for his family” after he lost his job in the pandemic has been jailed.
Greg Robertson, 33, went into panic mode when police pulled over a car he was travelling in, fleeing on foot and tossing dozens of bags of Class A drugs into nearby bushes.
The 33-year-old left 148 bags of cocaine and heroin, worth almost £5,000, at the scene, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
Drooling driver
A woman had consumed so much drink and drugs that she was drooling when police caught her behind the wheel of a car.
Karen Robertson, known as Morgan, could barely open her eyes and was slurring when officers found her on George Street.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told at around 8.45am on July 24 police noticed a black Vauxhall Zafira “causing an obstruction” on the city centre street.
Policeman abused child in patrol car
A former police officer who sexually assaulted two children – including one in a patrol car while on duty – has been jailed for 18 months.
Norman Harvey used his position as a Grampian Police officer to carry out the abuse and silence his female victims, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
But the two girls would not be silenced forever, and now the ex-sergeant has been found guilty of three charges following a three-day trial.
Park rapist locked up
An Aberdeen school worker who raped a stranger as she returned home from a night out has been locked up for almost five years.
Jeffery Oviasogie pounced on the terrified 29-year-old woman in the city’s Bon Accord Terrace Gardens, during the early hours of September 26 last year.
The 21-year-old then left his weeping victim curled up on the ground but was soon recognised due to his distinctive baseball cap.
Oviasogie was locked up for four years and eight months at the High Court in Glasgow.
Scheming husband stole wife’s jewellery
A husband smashed his way into a safe and then sold his wife’s jewellery and designer clothes while she was out of the country, a court has heard.
Ben Belton’s wife locked her valuables away behind a padlocked cupboard but when she returned from a trip to China she discovered her scheming husband had moved out and stolen the lot.
Inverness Sheriff Court was told he sold her clothes, including Versace and Louis Vuitton brands, to a website and traded in her watch to a jeweller for £6,000.
Fun fair worker turned to dealing
A drug-dealing fun fair worker turned to selling cannabis outside a newsagent to make extra cash after his work closed during lockdown.
Christopher Taylor was caught after police received intelligence about drug dealing outside the Hayton Road store.
The 34-year-old had started dealing after finding himself short of money during lockdown when the amusement park where he worked shut its doors.
Taylor claimed ownership of almost £300 worth of cannabis officers discovered stashed in a car.
Trainer restorer had sick images
A Bucksburn man has been placed on the sex offender’s register for three years after police raided his home and found hundreds of indecent images of children.
Cameron Bruce, 38, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted keeping a hoard of images and videos on his personal laptop and mobile phone.
Police found more than 700 images of children alongside nearly four hours of video footage.
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Golf club manager accused of embezzling £142,000
The former manager of a Moray golf club has appeared in court accused of embezzling more than £142,000.
Barbara-Anne Rumbles, 48, worked as an administrative assistant and then general manager at Elgin Golf Club.
She is alleged to have swindled the £142,209.02 between November 23 2016 and October 29 2019.
Architect was six-times drink-driving limit
A prominent architect who turned to drink after being made redundant crashed his Porsche while more than six-and-a-half times the alcohol limit.
Harry Macklin had been on his way back from visiting his father in a nursing home when the incident happened.
The 60-year-old was giving off an “overpowering” stench of alcohol when he crashed his sports car near Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Man accused of murdering grandmother
A man has appeared in court this afternoon accused of murdering his grandmother at a house in Forres.
Scott McCulloch, 25, is charged with the murder of 84-year-old Patricia Bitters following an incident in the town’s Oystercatcher Close, on Sunday August 28.
The pensioner was taken to Raigmore Hospital with serious injuries after police were alerted to reports of an assault at a house on the street.
It is understood she had moved into the home less than three weeks before the incident took place.
Lorry driver guilty of killing nursery teacher
A lorry driver has been found guilty of killing a nursery teacher after failing to notice a metal beam protruding from his lorry before it struck her.
John O’Donnell, 52, had pleaded not guilty to the more serious charge of killing Chloe Morrison by driving dangerously on October 25 2019.
The 26-year-old was walking with her mum when she suffered multiple fractures as an unsecured offloader leg on the lorry extended over the pavement and struck her.
Mum of disabled boy loses legal fight
A mum who claimed her son sustained “severe” injuries because of “negligence” on the part of Aberdeen Maternity Hospital staff has failed to prove her legal case.
The woman, who has been named only as SD, took NHS Grampian to the Court of Session alleging that her child was left severely disabled because of the actions of medics.
Judge Lady Wise heard how the infant – who was identified as LD- was born in August 2008 at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital.
Animal lover attack man who claimed he’d killed a puppy
An “animal lover” violently attacked a man at a party when he told him he’d killed a dog, a court has been told.
Adam Martin, 25, repeatedly headbutted and punched Sean Thain to the head and body after he informed party guests that his actions had caused the death of a six-month-old husky puppy.
However, Mr Thain’s claim turned out to be inaccurate.
He “choke-slammed” the puppy onto a tiled kitchen floor in 2015 but did not kill it.
Drugs at filling station
A Peterhead drug dealer caught with almost £10,000 of Class A drugs at an Aberdeen filling station has been jailed.
Alexander Henderson’s black BMW was stopped by police who had received intelligence that it was being used for transporting drugs, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
When officers searched Henderson, 30, and his vehicle at the BP filling station on King Street they found crack cocaine worth £5,720 and heroin worth £4,210.
‘Snitches get stitches’
An Aberdeen man has been fined after he sent a threatening WhatsApp message to his neighbour, telling him “snitches get stitches”.
Andrew Turner, 35, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted sending the ominous social media message, where he informed his victim he’d be attacked that very evening.
During the text, Turner called the man “a grass” and warned him he would punch his face in.
Danger dog back in trouble
A dangerous dog previously threatened with destruction following a “biting spree” in Banff is back in trouble again.
Staffordshire bull terrier Max hit the headlines after he attacked three dog owners and their pets on three different occasions while out and about in the town.
But, just four months after a dog control notice ordered that Max be muzzled and kept on a lead when in public areas, he has been involved in another attack.
Low-level dealer
A low-level drug producer who grew his own cannabis “won’t be worrying the Colombian cartels” any time soon, a court has heard.
Ian Wilcox’s homegrown stash of cannabis plants was discovered after police heard a fan noise when they visited the 44-year-old’s Elgin home.
They found 16 plants growing within two tents in an upstairs bedroom, Elgin Sheriff Court was told.
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Man spotted with gun on bus
A man sparked an armed police raid on a bus in Aberdeen city centre after a passenger spotted him holding a gun.
Lee Hipson had been “manipulated” into taking part in a plan to buy a BB gun, paint it to look like a real gun, and supply it to a friend of his girlfriend, Taylar Wetherly, 25.
And, Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard, the 29-year-old’s girlfriend even sent him pictures of her “partially undressed”, advising “this is what awaits you if you take responsibility”.
Abusive boyfriend’s controlling behaviour
A terrified woman locked herself in the bathroom for two hours to hide from her abusive boyfriend who demanded she pay off his debt to a Glasgow drugs gang.
Patrick Gaughan subjected his long-suffering partner to “sustained” controlling and abusive behaviour for almost nine months.
The 31-year-old even brandished a knife at the woman while ordering her to hand over her bank card.
Police officer sucker-punched
A man has admitted leaving a female police officer scarred after sucker-punching her as she spoke to revellers outside a Peterhead nightclub.
Bannor Masson approached the officer from behind on the town’s Queen Street before punching her to the face in the early hours of the morning.
The cowardly 26-year-old then legged it, while his victim was left with a 1.5cm gash on her nose which had to be closed using surgical glue.
Pub brawl caught on camera
Two brothers have appeared in the dock together after a violent bar brawl that was caught on camera left an Aberdeen pub in a “state of disarray”.
Ellis and Finley Leisk attacked customers at the Bridge of Dee pub with a pool cue, chairs and discharging a fire extinguisher.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that the brothers – aged 20 and 19 respectively – got into a friendly exchange with a group of men before things got heated and a fight ensued.
One victim had a pool cue snapped over his back.
Rogue trader in the dock
A rogue trader who swindled would-be customers out of hundreds of pounds of cash has been ordered to return his ill-gotten gains.
Dishonest Graham Thom pocketed cash deposits for jobs, like cleaning gutters and fitting a window, but never carried out the work.
The 31-year-old father-of-two used his Facebook page to defraud three people, including a pensioner, out of £750.
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