Weekend court roll – puppy scammers and creepy voyeurs

Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.

Drunk shouted ‘I pay your wages’ at police

An abusive drunk shouted, “I pay your wages” at police before flinging a bottle of vodka at officers from an Aberdeen flat window.

Kyle McMillan also called them “f****** rats” as he hurled abuse in the city’s Huntly Street on August 5 earlier this year.

Officers had been called to the scene around 11pm in connection with an “ongoing investigation”, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.

McMillan answered the door in an “aggressive and agitated state” alongside another man.

Trans woman assaulted partner

A trans woman has avoided punishment for assaulting her partner after hormone treatment led to “stresses” in their relationship.

Ryan Paterson, 29, grabbed her partner by the neck at an address in Aberdeen on March 11, earlier this year.

It was sparked by a row about alcohol consumption but occurred while both of them were transitioning from male to female.

Paterson, of Manse Road, Udny Green, Ellon, previously pled guilty to a domestically aggravated charge of assault to injury.

Wine tasting sends chef over the limit

A chef was caught driving home while almost four times the alcohol limit after being asked to “sample” new wines at work.

Jagat Paudel had been trying the new wines with colleagues at the restaurant where he works, before realising he might get a parking ticket.

The 49-year-old then made the “stupid decision” to drive home but the manner of his driving quickly drew the attention of the police.

It took Paudel around three minutes to pull over for officers who noticed his speech was slurred and he was unsteady on his feet.

Celtic fan attacked wife

A Celtic football fan attacked his wife after she’d taken their children out, leaving him at home to watch the game on television in peace.

Richard Cameron was drinking at his Fraserburgh home during the Celtic v Rangers game on September 3 this year, before getting into bed at 3pm to sleep it off.

But when his wife of four years jokingly pretended to throw water over the Celtic fan, whose team had won 4-0, he turned on her in a terrifying ordeal.

At one stage, Cameron kicked the front door which his wife had been leaning against to prevent him from getting inside.

Paedophile’s secret chats with vigilantes

An Aberdeenshire man who chatted with what he believed were five underage girls has been added to the sex offenders register.

Michael Burr was caught out by vigilante paedophile hunters who posed as young teenagers on fake Facebook accounts.

The 57-year-old sent them indecent images of himself, asked the ‘young girls’ to share pictures of their bodies, and to keep conversations a “secret”.

But after the vigilantes confronted Burr at his home, he later landed in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in September this year.

Girlfriend begged brute to stop choking her

A boyfriend punched his girlfriend’s face as she begged him to stop choking her – inflicting a swollen eye, bleeding nose and burst lip.

Jamie Bruce had a row with his girlfriend following a night of drinking together, which led to her slapping him and going to sleep on the sofa.

But the 34-year-old went after the woman, pushing her onto the sofa and choking her for 10 seconds – causing her to be unable to breathe.

As the woman pleaded with him to get off and stop hurting her, Bruce then punched her.

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Drunk woman smashed TV

A drunk woman smashed her boyfriend’s £350 television when she threw a glass at the screen – then tried to bite police and spit on them.

Laura Gemmell was chucked out of her partner’s home in Fraserburgh where she repeatedly shouted and banged on his front door during the disturbance.

Neighbours overheard the commotion and when police arrived to deal with the nuisance, they found her “highly intoxicated” on the street.

The 44-year-old even had to be restrained with a spit hood that she somehow managed to get off, before spitting on an officer.

Car thief’s 85mph joyride

A car thief raced across a footpath near a children’s playpark to evade police capture during a high-speed joyride around Aberdeen.

Kieran Ord, 31, had earlier driven toward a police officer’s car to escape arrest.

The disqualified driver was being hunted after he stole a black Skoda from the Tesco superstore in Ellon, around 10.30am on June 26 this year.

Ord spent the next few days driving the vehicle around Aberdeen – at times more than double the speed limit, travelling 85mph in a 40mph zone.

Sex offender breached rules

A sex offender breached a court order when he befriended a mum at a foodbank and posed for a selfie with her 11-year-old daughter.

David Scott, known as Ritchie, previously admitted to asking underage teenagers to send him naked pictures and served two years in prison following the offence in 2017.

He’d sent two 13-year-old schoolgirls sexually explicit pictures of himself through Snapchat and repeatedly demanded naked images in return.

The 25-year-old was then placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years and ordered not to communicate with anyone under the age of 16 for five years.

Sentence reduced for woman who cried rape

An Aberdeenshire woman who falsely accused a man of raping her in an “act of revenge” has won a legal bid to cut her prison sentence.

Susan Stewart, 35, was given a 14-month-long jail term at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in October 2022 for wasting police time.

The court heard how she told detectives she had been sexually assaulted by a man following a Christmas night out in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, on December 16 2018.

But Stewart had actually concocted the story after her alleged attacker told her he was more interested in dating her cousin.

Puppy scammer preyed on the lonely

A “reprehensible” woman preyed on people’s loneliness during the first Coronavirus lockdown – promising them puppies that they never received.

Lisa-Marie McDonald ran an elaborate scam, advertising Labradoodle puppies for up to £2,500 with no intention of supplying customers with furry companions.

The 42-year-old took £200 deposits for the dogs and then refused to pay the money back to the buyers who soon became suspicious of the dodgy deals.

McDonald left the prospective puppy owners hanging for weeks, making various excuses – including telling one victim that her overdue puppy had gone blind.

Voyeur faces our cameras

A voyeur tried to secretly film under the skirts of female students on the Inverness campus where he was studying.

Iain Grant, who was a University of the Highlands and Islands computer science student at the time, also used night vision to video record local children.

Grant appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court where he admitted a charge of breach of the peace, concerning videos that were made between March 2002 and February 2019.

He also pled guilty to possessing indecent images of children.

Threats to police

A man kicked a policeman and later told officers, “You better pray I don’t see you on a night out – be a shame if someone shanked you”.

Derek Simpson was spared jail – despite hurling verbal abuse at police, kicking an officer and trying to bite him and later threatening to shank two officers.

The 38-year-old made the thinly veiled threat from a police cell at Kittybrewster custody suite in Aberdeen on November 17 last year.

Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that Simpson also coughed in a policeman’s face, telling him he was infected with Covid-19.

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Red wine causes bail breach

A man drank at least two bottles of red wine – then ignored a court order to stay away from his girlfriend.

David Donaldson, 44, breached the bail conditions previously ordered by a sheriff in an ongoing court case involving the couple.

The drunken visit to his other half’s home at Carron Place, Aberdeen, on February 3 this year, landed the dad-of-one back in the dock after he injured police officers.

He’d been arrested by the officers after a three-hour shouting match with the woman, who called the police but later told them not to come as it was “a joke”.

Domestic abuser branded a ‘scumbag’

The dad of a woman who was violently abused by her “scumbag” former partner has criticised his sentence.

Anthony Kay carried out a “sustained” abuse on the woman that included pinning her down and spitting in her face.

Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard the 38-year-old also grabbed the woman’s head and attempted to hit it off a car steering wheel.

He later returned with a police-style baton before being arrested by police.

Knifepoint robber jailed

An Aberdeen drug addict has been jailed for 36 months after he helped abduct a pair of men and then robbed them at knifepoint.

Harry Merchant, along with his brother Joseph, targeted the men, who were walking along the Spital in Aberdeen, and threatened to stab them if they didn’t get into their car.

The victims were then forced to hand over their belongings – including phones, wallets, watches and a jacket – before they were dropped off nearby.

But the brothers were soon caught after one of them left their DNA on a wallet and a stolen Apple Watch was tracked to an address on Urquhart Road.

Night intruder jailed

A man who snuck into the home of a Peterhead mum and tried to rape her has been sentenced to more than four years in prison.

Ramunas Smitras, 32, subjected the woman to a terrifying ordeal where she woke to find the stranger standing over her bed with his trousers pulled down in the early hours of April 27 2013.

What followed was a shocking attack in which the woman had to fend off Smitras for more than an hour as he attempted to rape her.

The 33-year-old woman – who was 24 at the time of the assault – described her attacker’s actions that day as “so wrong” and that the attack had “stripped every part of me”.

Domestic abuser’s graduation fears

A mature student who left his wife scarred during a series of beatings begged to be kept out of prison so he would not be thrown off his Aberdeen university course.

Jason Glover admitted attacking his former partner on numerous occasions, including during a weekend break at a hotel in Edinburgh.

Glover, who also works as a chef, told Dundee Sheriff Court being jailed would lead to failure to graduate from Robert Gordon University.

During one attack, his wife was so scared of what the burly Beefeater chef would do she tried to flee from their Dundee home while she was naked.

Covid patient went straight to pub

Pub customers and police were exposed to Covid-19 by a Ross-shire man who ignored medical advice to self-isolate and went straight to the bar for a drink.

Inverness Sheriff Court was told that 34-year-old Wez MacLeod turned up at the Ord Arms Hotel in Muir of Ord on September 4 2021 just after he’d been released from the Covid ward at Raigmore Hospital.

Fiscal depute Pauline Gair told Sheriff Sara Matheson that MacLeod had been told to go straight home and self-isolate but he went to the bar, removed his mask and ordered drinks.

MacLeod then returned home only to be arrested by police on another matter and he failed to tell them that he had the potentially lethal virus.

Drink-driver had been ‘on the sesh’

A drink-driver who was found in a crashed car while almost five times the alcohol limit told police she was “on the sesh”.

Bonnie Cameron made the “stupid and impulsive decision” to take the vehicle without permission after a drinking session.

The 29-year-old’s driving quickly caught the attention of concerned members of the public, who contacted the police.

When officers arrived they found the car damaged and half mounted on the kerb before Cameron admitted to them she’d been “on the sesh”.

‘Hard man’ assaulted strangers in car

The self-styled “hardest man in Aberdeen” has avoided a prison sentence after he jumped into a stranger’s car and assaulted two passengers.

Levi McLennan launched himself through the passenger window of the Renault Clio and demanded a lift home in the early hours of the morning.

The offshore worker shouted at the three young occupants “Do you know who I am? I’m the hardest man in Aberdeen,” Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.

The 28-year-old sat on the gear stick and insisted he be taken home and when the driver refused he rained punches down on his two passengers.

Driver, 87, banned

An 87-year-old man with an unblemished driving record has been banned from the roads after he drove the wrong way down the A96 near Inverurie.

John Thomson drove his red Skoda Yeti into oncoming traffic on the dual carriageway after becoming confused by the road layout.

Thomson still hopes to regain his licence after he’s served a ban, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.

Fiscal depute Alan Townsend said the incident happened at around 3.20pm on March 1 this year and traffic was moderately busy at the time.

Knifeman at police station

A man who entered a police station with a knife saying he wanted to hurt people has been jailed for 16 months.

David Dunn, 53, walked into the reception area of Burnett Road Police Station in Inverness and announced that he was carrying a knife.

When officers seized the weapon he told them he was “angry” and “wanted to hurt people”.

Dunn appeared from custody at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit a single charge of possessing a bladed or sharply pointed article in a public place.

University vandal sentenced

A vandal who spraypainted mysterious graffiti on the walls of Aberdeen University buildings has been ordered to carry out unpaid work.

Finn Eamon, known as Eve Crawford, vandalised walls at the university’s MacRobert building and William Guild building and was swiftly caught in the act by security staff.

The 23-year-old’s graffiti is thought to be in Japanese but nobody has yet been able to decipher it.

Fiscal depute David Rogers told Aberdeen Sheriff Court: “Around 11am on November 10 2021, security guards were made aware by members of staff that the accused was spraypainting walls.

Nurse was almost seven times drink-driving limit

A mental health nurse has been banned from the roads after she was caught behind the wheel with a child in the car while nearly SEVEN times the drink-drive limit.

Sarah Cowie, or Hawcutt, 42, was seen veering across the carriageway by motorists on the A947 road in Aberdeenshire on September 20 last year.

When Hawcutt pulled her red Volkswagen into a shop forecourt, witnesses noticed she was swaying, had flushed cheeks and her eyes were “glassy”.

Upon further inspection, they saw there was also a child in the car.

Woman snatched stranger’s bag

A woman stranded in Huntly at 5am stole a stranger’s bag and wallet after police refused to give her a lift home and said they were “not a f***ing taxi service”, a court has been told.

Denise Elrick and her brother found themselves stuck in the Aberdeenshire town in the freezing cold with no way of getting home to Keith in the early hours of the morning.

Elrick, 32, flagged down a police car in desperation and asked for a lift home.

But her solicitor told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that officers dismissed their pleas, telling them they were “not a f***ing taxi service”.

Businessman fined for hitting cyclist with Jaguar

A businessman who seriously injured a cyclist when his Jaguar sped round a bend outside Fort William and clipped the bike has been fined £2000.

The collision happened on April 2 2021 when camper van company director Matthew Morrison, formerly of Gairlochy, Spean Bridge, was travelling north on the A82.

Inverness Sheriff Court previously heard that the 34-year-old was travelling at excessive speed when he negotiated the bend near the Fort William Golf Club junction which had several hazard warnings beforehand.

He was confronted by the 65-year-old cyclist, who was accompanied by his 36-year-old son, and hit his brakes hard.

Three in court after alleged attempted murder

Three people have appeared in court in connection with an attempted murder in Aberdeen.

Diego Ellis, 24, Heather Sim, 40, and Nyasha Warren, 22, appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court today facing a number of charges in connection with the incident in the city’s Bloomfield Road on Wednesday.

One man was severely injured in the alleged altercation, which was understood to have involved a knife.

Ellis, of Birmingham, has been charged with one count of assault to severe injury, danger to life and attempted murder.

Hot toddies defence

A drink-driver who was seen swerving all over the road while almost five times the limit blames it on too many hot toddies.

Elizabeth Kakayi was caught after other road users saw her driving erratically on the A96 between Fochabers and Buckie.

The 45-year-old mum almost collided with incoming traffic but made it safely home before officers caught up with her, Elgin Sheriff Court was told.

She immediately told them “I’m so sorry” and later explained she’d consumed hot toddies – an old wives’ cure for the common cold comprising of whisky, hot water, honey and lemon.

Moray man loses £30,000 in legal fight to exhume teenage brother

A Moray man has lost a legal bid to exhume his teenage brother’s remains – crushing a family’s hopes for a new probe into his death.

Neil Riddel’s body was discovered in a field near Keith in 1991 and it was later ruled that the 19-year-old had died from a “probable suicide” by drug overdose.

But relatives continue to believe that the young apprentice blacksmith died while in police custody and was later dumped one mile away from his home in Aultmore.

Now, the family’s application to dig up Neil’s remains and have them re-examined by an independent forensic expert has been rejected by Elgin Sheriff Court.

Abuser scrubbed makeup off woman’s face

A man scrubbed the make-up off his partner’s face then threw a basin of water over her after a fallout over finances, a court has heard.

Marian Mucha’s victim was found soaking wet and visibly upset when police officers were called to their Buckie home by the pair’s daughter.

They found the woman, Mucha’s former partner of seven years, “soaking wet and visibly upset,” Elgin Sheriff Court was told.

Fiscal depute Karen Poke said the 36-year-old had sent his partner a photograph of himself with another woman while he was working away abroad.

Hogmanay drink-driver

A Hogmanay holiday in the highlands ended in hospital for a PhD student who decided to drink and drive.

Ella Hall-Younger was visiting the region with friends over the new year but when the revelry turned sour she decided to get behind the wheel.

She later crashed her car and was taken to hospital, where blood tests revealed she was more than three times the legal drink-drive limit.

Hall-Younger, 25, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court to plead guilty to a single drink-driving charge.

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