Weekend court roll – wet willies and chickenellie land pair in court

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

Man punched and throttled new girlfriend in her own home

A man caused his new girlfriend to fear she was about to die as he strangled her during a terrifying attack in her own home in Aberdeenshire.

Adam Perrat, 21, punched and throttled the frightened woman, who couldn’t breathe during the ordeal.

He showed no emotion as he appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court via video link from prison on Friday when he was jailed for the traumatic episode.

Perrat, who pled guilty to the attack, had met his victim through social media in June 2022 when they began a relationship together.

Aberdeen car thief found sleeping in back of £45,000 Mercedes

An Aberdeen man has been put under house arrest after admitting stealing a £45,000 Mercedes from Edinburgh.

Douglas Kelbie, 40, stole the black Mercedes GLC AMG from outside the capital home in September last year but wasn’t caught until two months later.

Fiscal depute David Rogers told the court that happened when police officers in Aberdeen went to check on reports of a man sleeping inside a car on Pitstruan Place.

Mr Rogers said that the officers had found Kelbie in the driver’s seat, adding: “The vehicle was unlocked and Kelbie awoke when they opened the door.”

Aberdeen man caught with nearly £60,000 cannabis in bedroom

A man who was mired in drug debt has avoided being sent to prison after police found nearly £60,000 of cannabis in his bedroom cupboard.

Clark Fraser appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted being concerned in the supply of more than four kilos of the Class B drug.

It was stated that when police raided the 31-year-old’s home he told them he had “two and a bit boxes of smoke” within his bedroom.

His solicitor told the court that Fraser had got himself into drug debt and had turned to selling a large quantity of cannabis to dig himself out of the situation.

Man’s paintball revenge attack on children who played chickenellie

An Elgin man has admitted a “gangster-style” paintball revenge attack on a group of children – after they knocked at his front door and then ran away.

Joe Taylor, 29, lost the plot with two 12-year-old boys and an eight-year-old girl, chasing after them in his car before cornering them in a car park.

He then opened fire with his paintball gun, leaving them all “covered in bruises” and terrified.

The mum of one of the victims, who was in court to see his guilty plea, said the incident had traumatised the children.

Brave 18-year-old chased after her rapist

A rapist who was chased by his victim moments after he assaulted her in Aberdeen city centre is facing a “lengthy” prison sentence for the attack.

Mohammed Abdullah, 19, preyed on the 18-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in Bon Accord Street, on August 17 2021.

Jurors at the High Court in Edinburgh were played disturbing CCTV footage from close to the crime scene, during which the sound of a woman screaming could be heard.

They were also shown video footage of Abdullah’s victim adjusting her clothing moments after the attack and of her starting to chase him.

Heroin dealer who swung hammer at police officer’s head is jailed

A drug dealer has been jailed after he swung a hammer at the head of a police officer during a raid on an Aberdeen flat.

Renato De Agostini was suspected of dealing heroin from the property on Formartine Road when police forced entry to arrest him and another male.

However, the 21-year-old barricaded himself in the kitchen and, when police burst through the door, he swung a hammer at one officer’s head.

A subsequent search found more than £1,300 worth of heroin in the flat.

Aberdeen film-maker avoids prison for choking ex-partner

A north-east film director who choked his former partner and threatened to kill her has avoided a prison sentence.

Lee Hutcheon, 50, appeared in the dock for sentencing at Aberdeen Sheriff Court after a jury found him guilty of acting in a threatening or abusive manner and assaulting the woman to the danger of her life.

As well as grabbing his victim by the throat and restricting her breathing, he also threatened to kill her.

The court was told the altercation, at a house on Wellheads Avenue, Aberdeen, left the woman with injuries to her body.

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Paedophile caught with indecent images featuring dogs avoids jail

A Keith paedophile who uploaded videos featuring children as young as two with adults and even a dog has dodged jail – despite showing a lack of “empathy” for the victims.

Kenneth Hird was caught with more than 18 hours of vile footage and hundreds of sinister pictures after uploading a video to a cloud storage service.

The 29-year-old admitted taking, permitting to be taken or making indecent images of children between March 4 2020 and April 20 2022 at a previous hearing.

He also pled guilty to possessing an extreme pornographic image depicting sexual activity with animals and distributing indecent images of children.

Ellon stalker repeatedly caught prowling outside home of woman

A stalker who repeatedly turned up outside the home of his former colleague will now be under the supervision of the social work department.

Ellon man Neil Stephen, 59, terrified the woman by travelling to her Aberdeen property where he was seen staring through her windows on a number of occasions over two days.

Stephen, a joiner, was snared when the woman set up a motion detection camera and caught him prowling around outside her home on Park Road.

On one occasion, the woman stepped out of the bathroom with a towel around her to find Stephen outside her window, Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard.

Driving ban for Keith man who caused Boxing Day crash

A Keith man has been banned from driving for four months after admitting to causing a Boxing Day crash that resulted in another car flipping over on the road.

James McLean, 26, was on his way to work on December 26 2021 when he drove into the oncoming carriageway of the B9022 Huntly to Portsoy road.

Depute fiscal Victoria Silver told Elgin Sheriff Court that McLean had been driving on the road near Rothiemay at around noon when he collided with a car driving in the opposite direction. The weather conditions were said to be “below freezing”.

McLean admitted driving his white Peugeot 206 van without “due care” as he failed to negotiate a right-hand bend on the B-road colliding with the Hyundai Tucson.

Keith domestic abuser back in court for breaching court order yet again

A Keith man has been ordered – once again – to stay away from his partner after admitting abusing her over a period of months.

Glen Wilcox, 39, of Den Crescent, appeared in Elgin Sheriff Court to plead guilty to four charges of domestic abuse.

The court heard that Wilcox and his partner had an “on-off” relationship for 23 years and had one child together.

Fiscal depute Victoria Silver told the court that Wilcox had appeared uninvited to his partner’s house in June 2023 and had told her there were no bail conditions preventing him from being there.

Moray man’s sick video stash was ‘foul stuff’, says sheriff

A sheriff branded a Moray man’s sick stash of disgusting videos, some of which featured a dog, “foul stuff”.

Michael Upton, 38, was caught with a hard drive containing almost seven hours of sick video but claimed to have no memory of the files, which had not been accessed since 2015.

Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald said the content was “pretty stark images not to remember” and called for reports after Upton admitted possessing extreme pornography.

Fiscal depute Robert Weir told the court that Upton’s home was searched by police on August 15 of last year and a number of devices were seized, including an external hard drive.

Thug jailed for £40,000 home invasion

A Peterhead thug has been locked up for raiding a Highland home with a masked gang who threatened to chop off a family’s fingers if they didn’t open a money safe.

Kyle Rossiter, a former sous chef, admitted his role in stealing more than £40,000 from the residents during the terrifying home invasion close to Beauly.

The 23-year-old was one of up to six intruders who burst into the bungalow, in the community of Foxhole, near Kiltarlity, around 7pm on October 19 2020.

A man and his wife – both aged 59 – along with loved ones were there at the time.

Driver caught with ‘astronomical’ amount of cocaine in system

A driver who was pulled over by police and caught with an “astronomical” amount of cocaine in his system has been banned from the roads.

Brandon Gervaise, 20, was more than six times the limit for cocaine while behind the wheel of his vehicle.

It was stopped in the Rubislaw area of Aberdeen in October last year.

When tested, he was found to have cannabis and a metabolite of cocaine in his system.

Teen gave ‘wet willy’ to stranger

A teenager wet his finger with his spit and shoved it into a stranger’s ear before telling police he’d “rape their little sisters” after they arrested him for the bizarre assault.

Nico Tole appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted to giving the man on Aberdeen’s Union Street what’s known as a ‘wet willy’.

After being arrested, the 19-year-old stripped off his clothes, exposing himself to police officers.

Tole, who has a number of previous convictions for violence and intimidation, told the court he was “remorseful and ashamed” over his actions.

Aberdeen gran jailed after swindling £1.5 million from scrap metal firm

An Aberdeen grandmother who embezzled more than £1.5 million from the scrap metal business where she worked was jailed for 40 months today.

Coleen Muirhead indulged in expensive holidays and bought cars and caravans after taking the money over a six-year period.

A judge told Muirhead, 55, that having regard to the scale of the crime and the massive breach of trust only a prison sentence was appropriate.

Lord Fairley told her she would have faced a five-year jail term but it would be modified to three years and four months imprisonment following her guilty plea.

Stonehaven man threatened to set fire to home

A Stonehaven man has been put under curfew after admitting to threatening to set fire to his wife and child.

Iain Bell, 35 of Stonehaven appeared in Aberdeen Sheriff Court charged with domestic abuse.

Fiscal depute David Rogers told the court that at 3am on October 13, 2022, Bell had gone to the home address of his wife and child.

The court heard that Mrs Bell had refused to answer the door and that she had a Ring camera doorbell in place.

Man jailed after four-hour siege with armed police in Tain

A man who staged a four-hour siege that prompted an armed police response has been jailed.

Police cordoned off Burgage Drive in Tain after John McDonald appeared at a window with a knife, threatening to harm himself and officers.

An armed response unit was called in and, following lengthy negotiations, McDonald eventually surrendered his weapons and was placed under arrest by officers.

McDonald, 44, appeared via videolink at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit a charge of threatening or abusive behaviour and breach of a bail condition in relation to the incident on May 17 of this year.

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Drink-driving student blamed strong mouthwash for being over limit

A drink-driving chemistry student who caused a car accident claimed that his positive alcohol reading was caused by strong mouthwash.

PHD student Ali Alzahrani appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted crashing his silver Ford C-Max while more than three times the drink-drive limit on Roslyn Street.

When police arrived at the crash site, they found three cans of Tennents on the 38-year-old’s front passenger seat.

But despite testing positive for alcohol, the Aberdeen University post-grad maintained that he wasn’t drunk and didn’t drink alcohol.

Man in court accused of killing ‘doting’ Inverurie dad

A man has appeared in court accused of killing a “doting” dad during a disturbance in Stonehaven.

David McGuinness, from Inverurie, died in hospital following the incident at GPH Builders Merchants on Tuesday.

Emergency services were called to the business, on the town’s Broomhill Road, at about 10.40am following reports of a “disturbance”.

It is understood the incident did not involve GPH Builders Merchants staff.

Kinloss man charged with domestic abuse at barracks

A member of the armed forces has appeared in Elgin Sheriff Court charged with domestic abuse.

Reece Hume, 34, of Kinloss Barracks, is charged with abusing his partner over a four-month period at that address and whilst on a journey to Northumberland.

It is alleged that the abuse happened between September 1 2021, and January 9 2022.

He is charged with pinning down his partner – who cannot be named for legal reasons – straddling her whilst sitting on her stomach and restricting her breathing.

DNA breakthrough in hunt for cheese wire killer of Aberdeen taxi driver

Detectives have recovered a DNA profile of the man who murdered Aberdeen taxi driver George Murdoch, it was revealed today.

The genetic sample was identified on evidence gathered after the 58-year-old cabbie was viciously garrotted by a passenger with a cheese wire.

Advancements in forensic analysis allowed scientists to make a major breakthrough towards the end of 2018, with the DNA profile being used to eliminate dozens of people from the ongoing investigation ever since.

“If this case was ever going to be solved, it’s going to be solved by this DNA and with the help of the public,” Detective Inspector James Callander told The Press and Journal.

Bowling club raider told cleaner he was looking for a bible

A man who broke into a bowling club and stole coins from a slot machine told the cleaner he was looking for a bible, a court has heard.

The worker spotted Jason Jaffray inside Alness Bowling Club when she arrived to clean and, knowing he was not a member, challenged him.

Looking “nervous and agitated”, Jaffray told her: “I am looking for the Holy Bible” before leaving the premises.

Soon after the woman discovered the gaming machine had been accessed and cash taken.

‘Very dangerous’ Aberdeen sex attacker locked up for 13 years

A violent sex offender who repeatedly raped a woman and twice tried to murder her was jailed for 13 years today.

Jahmarley Michaud carried out the attacks on his victim when he was still a teenager and went on to abuse a second woman whom he threatened to kill.

A judge told Michaud, now aged 21, at the High Court in Edinburgh that he had carried out a “campaign of abusive cruelty”.

Lord Lake said it seemed to him from the evidence that he heard and a background report prepared on him that Michaud was “a very dangerous person”.

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