Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Violent Grindr date sentenced for attacking autistic man
A man who punched, slapped and kicked an autistic man after contacting him on Grindr has been ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.
Darwyn Perry, 37, was found guilty after trial earlier this month by Sheriff Robert Frazer of assaulting the man in his rural Wester Ross home between June 21 and 22 last year.
The 29-year-old victim’s ordeal only came to an end when his father arrived and ordered a naked Perry to leave the property.
The court previously heard how Perry arrived at the man’s home and helped himself to alcohol before punching, slapping and kicking the man.
Painter and decorator forced to compensate customer he defrauded
A painter and decorator who took a £500 deposit for work he never carried out has been ordered to repay the customer he let down.
Barry Kerr, 30, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted to defrauding the woman.
Kerr had previously agreed to do extensive painting and decorating work at her home, having quoted her £1,600 and demanded an initial deposit of £500.
However, despite the deposit being paid, the work was never done – leaving his victim hundreds of pounds out of pocket.
Jail for drug trafficking rapist who preyed on Inverness teenagers
A drug trafficking rapist who preyed on teenage girls during sex attacks in Inverness was jailed for 11 years today.
Adam Pentacost, 34, used force to commit a series of rapes involving two much younger victims during assaults in the Highland capital.
Pentacost did not wear a condom during the attacks on the teenagers and one contracted a sexual infection after being raped by him.
A judge told Pentacost at the High Court in Edinburgh: “Your conduct was predatory with significant elements of planning on your part.”
Army sergeant abducted and robbed partner in Aberdeen night out
A Highland army sergeant has been ordered to carry out unpaid work after abducting and robbing his partner after a night out in Aberdeen.
Jese Nawacalevu pursued the woman when she left their hotel to go and sleep in her car.
The 42-year-old snatched her phone and keys and left her locked in the car.
When he returned to let her out, Nawacalevu was asked to leave the hotel and drove the vehicle to a different part of the Union Square car park despite previously drinking.
Trial date set for man who denies sinking fishing boat at Cairnbulg
A trial date has been fixed for an Ayr man accused of causing a fishing boat to run aground near Fraserburgh nearly two years ago.
David Cooper, 38, has yet to appear at Peterhead Sheriff Court but issued a not-guilty plea via his legal defence on Monday.
The charge alleges he was responsible for the BA55 Ocean Maid striking rocks while it was travelling to Fraserburgh on October 24 2022.
The four fishermen, who were on board at the time, had to be rescued following the collision.
Jealous boyfriend threatened social media post claiming partner had STI
A jealous boyfriend who threatened to post on social media that his partner had a sexually transmitted infection has been jailed.
James Sherry called his girlfriend a “s****** and a s***” before making the threat and then grabbed her mobile phone.
With a previous partner, Sherry also threw a vacuum cleaner from a window in a jealous rage.
When that woman locked him out, he used the electrical appliance to smash a window at the property, Inverness Sheriff Court heard.
Fraserburgh man bombarded ex with daily calls and 66 emails
A Fraserburgh man bombarded his ex-partner with phone calls every day for over a month and sent her 66 emails because he felt lonely, his lawyer told a court.
Tomasz Wlochowski, 47, appeared at Peterhead Sheriff Court to plead guilty to one charge of causing repeated annoyance and another of breaching bail conditions.
The court heard that Wlochowski’s relationship with the woman had ended in 2022, but failing to move on, he continued to contact her.
Fiscal depute Emma Petersen said that between January 22 and March 25 this year, Wlochowski phoned the woman daily and sent 66 emails, adding: “They were in Polish and did not contain threats.”
Aberdeen mum and son in the dock after amphetamine found in freezer
A mother and son have appeared in the dock after hundreds of pounds worth of amphetamine was found in a freezer at their home.
Police raided the address shared by Ryan Henderson, 35, and his 58-year-old mum Patricia Kirton, or Cran, twice in just a month-and-a-half.
On both occasions, officers recovered drugs worth hundreds of pounds and thousands in cash.
During the first search of the property, the police uncovered a stash of the Class B drug amphetamine, which was hidden inside a freezer located in a hall cupboard.
Brothers deny using hammer and machete in Aberdeen murder bid
Twin brothers are to stand trial charged with taking part in the alleged attempted murder of a man in Aberdeen last year.
Rhys and Brandon Booth, both aged 23, are accused of acting with others in the alleged attack on the city’s Marchburn Drive.
It’s claimed a man was repeatedly struck with a hammer and machete or similar weapons, last July 5.
The attempted murder charge states this was to his severe injury, permanent disfigurement and to the danger of his life.
Paedophile NHS worker caught after messaging ‘teenager’ undercover cop
An NHS worker from Aberdeen made sick sexual comments to an undercover police officer who was posing as a 13-year-old girl online.
Jordan Sharpe, 27, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted chatting to a decoy account that he believed was a teenage girl named ‘Jaz’.
Sharpe also sent her numerous images of his private parts and discussed having sexual intercourse with her, despite being told that she was underage.
When his house was raided by the police, Sharpe told officers that he believed he had been chatting to “a bot” – not a real person.
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Knifeman attacked man giving CPR to dying friend in Aberdeen
A thug repeatedly struck a man in the head with a knife as he desperately tried to save his unresponsive friend’s life.
Dean MacLennan was drinking with a group of people including James Williams and Barry Dyker at an address on Seaton Walk, Aberdeen, before the incident happened.
During the evening, Mr Dyker, 45, became unresponsive and Mr Williams frantically tried to revive the man by administering first aid.
But as he was on the ground carrying out chest compressions, he felt a blow to the top of his head and turned to see MacLennan standing over him with a knife.
Motorbike thief rode through Aberdeen park to escape police chase
A prolific motorcycle thief rode through an Aberdeen park to avoid being captured by officers during a police chase through the city.
Connor Tough, along with two friends, stole two bikes and attempted to take a further two motorcycles in the space of just days.
The 22-year-old even took a hammer to one of the vehicles to break off the lock.
When Tough was caught speeding on one of the stolen bikes by the police, he fled through a park, where the officers’ police car was unable to follow him.
Mentally unwell man went into stranger’s garden and flashed girls
A mentally unwell man walked into a stranger’s front garden in Aberdeen and then exposed himself to three young girls.
Charles Gordon, 44, also pulled his trousers down in front of a female police officer.
He asked the policewoman to come to bed with him before making violent threats to murder her male colleague.
In the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, Gordon admitted to a series of sexual offences.
Drink-driving offshore worker was ‘grassed in’ to police by his Mercedes
A drink-driving offshore worker was “grassed in” to the police by his own car after he crashed it in Aberdeen, his lawyer told a court.
Nicholas Donald, 35, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted being three times the drink-drive limit while behind the wheel of his fancy Mercedes-Benz utility vehicle.
Donald crashed his car in the Garthdee area of the city during the early hours of the morning.
His top-of-the-range SUV then called the police to report the crash, unaware that its owner was too drunk to drive.
Cornhill man hurled abuse and death threats at Portsoy neighbour
A serial offender with an “unenviable” criminal record landed himself back in the dock after hurling abuse and death threats at his Portsoy neighbour.
Michael Sorby, 34, was found guilty of threatening behaviour after a sheriff “did not believe” his version of events during a two-hour trial at Banff Sheriff Court.
Sorby previously threatened to kill his victim Gary Stranach and called the 32-year-old vile names including a “mongol”, a “retard”, a “spastic” and “an Aberdeen tink”.
Giving evidence via video link, Mr Stranach described the nasty confrontation with Sorby in February 2022.
Appeal as widow blasts ‘lenient’ sentence for husband’s oil rig killer
The widow of a man battered to death by a north-east oil worker has branded the sentence given to her husband’s killer as “lenient” as her family awaits the outcome of their appeal.
Robbie Robson, 38, was attacked with a 10kg iron weight by colleague and room-mate, Scott Forrest, 43, of Maud, Aberdeenshire.
It happened on an oil platform off the coast of Qatar in December 2022.
Forrest has been in custody in Doha ever since, with Qatar’s court process shrouded in secrecy.
Mr Robson’s family, who live in the north-east of England, had been told Forrest could face the death penalty if he was found guilty of murder.
However, it has since emerged that Forrest was cleared of murder and instead convicted of manslaughter and jailed for 10 years in December last year.
Jealous Aberdeen man threatened to ‘cut up’ ex’s face with a scythe
A jealous ex-partner threatened to attack his former lover with a scythe and warned her of a “second helping of karma” upon his release from prison.
Stanislaw Wosinski sent threatening text messages to the woman, believing she had started a new relationship with another man.
The 42-year-old, who was under a court order not to approach his ex, told her he would use a scythe to “cut her face up” and the face of any man she’d met.
Wosinski also said he didn’t care “if they locked him up” if he carried out the attacks.
Sugar daddy swindler avoids prison after blackmailing more cheaters
A serial sugar daddy blackmailer has avoided jail after her honey pot scam extorted money from more men looking to meet young women online.
Tiffany Anderson, 26, admitted using an adults-only website to lure her victims into buying sexual pictures and videos of her.
But, as soon as the men paid for the material, Anderson threatened to expose them to their friends and family.
She strongly urged the men to “make a deal” and pay up, forcing them to fork out nearly £700 to keep her quiet.
Men burst into Inverness flat in crowbar attack on throttled resident
A masked man and two accomplices burst into an Inverness flat during a crowbar attack on the resident who was also throttled.
The incident happened in a property on Mackintosh Road on the night of March 22 2023, Inverness Sheriff Court heard.
The victim Stephen Dick, who was the flat’s tenant, had mistakenly called the mum of 22-year-old Corey MacLeod.
Fiscal depute Naomi Duffy-Welsh said that Mr Dick’s friend Dylan Bannister then received a phone call from an angry MacLeod.
Moray mum-of-two caught with almost £7,500 of drugs at her home
A Moray mum who was caught with nearly £7,500 of drugs in her home over two years ago has been spared jail.
Laura McCrae, of Ben Aigen Walk in Elgin, previously admitted being concerned with the supply of amphetamine after the property was raided on January 21 2022.
The 40-year-old mum-of-two reappeared in the dock at Inverness Sheriff Court after a background report was prepared for the sheriff hearing her case.
Sheriff David Harvie remembered previously placing McCrae on a community payback order for another offence.
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Aberdeen City Council architect chased child with meat cleaver
An architect overseeing the construction of hundreds of new Aberdeen council homes chased a child with a meat cleaver and left a woman severely injured after a violent attack.
Colin Doig is awaiting sentencing after he admitted carrying out the wine-fuelled rampage at a Dundee address in 2022.
The woman suffered a serious ankle injury at the hands of Aberdeen City Council’s New Housing Manager. She required eight pins and a plate to be inserted.
The child – in their early teens, too young to be identified publicly – later told police he was in fear for his life while being chased by the 56-year-old.
Pensioner’s rage at neighbour calling his wife ‘trash’ in parking row
A raging pensioner grabbed his neighbour by the throat and pinned him against a wall in a heated dispute over parking.
Brian Reid, 72, landed in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court following a history of unneighbourly fall-outs involving gardening work, home improvements and parking.
During the latest spat between the bickering pair of Middleton Circle, Aberdeen, the “straw that broke the camel’s back” came when the neighbour called Reid’s wife “trash”.
The retired lorry driver then snapped – pushing his neighbour back into his house, grabbing hold of his neck with both hands and pinning him up against a wall.
Meat cleaver-wielding Wick man threatened to ‘slit throats’
A Wick man threatened police with a meat cleaver and knives during a standoff with armed officers in Castletown.
Two firearms teams were called to the scene before Calum McCann, 24, eventually surrendered following the arrival of a police negotiator.
Wick Sheriff Court heard that McCann, of Glamis Road, Wick, had gone
to Castletown on May 9 last year.
He was met by his mother who noticed he’d been drinking and became aware that her son was “angry about something”.
North-east firm accused of health and safety failures in worker’s death
A north-east firm is accused of safety failings that allegedly led to an employee’s death following a tragic incident at a car dealership.
Mark Mathers got his hoodie trapped in a torsion spring during maintenance on a roller door at Specialist Cars Volkswagen on Craigshaw Crescent, Aberdeen, on September 15 2018.
The 33-year-old’s employer Patrick Forman Industrial Doors has since been charged with failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its workers including Mr Mathers.
He had been working on the servicing, repair and replacement of a door torsion spring when the deadly ordeal unfolded.
Retired banker’s car crash broke two elderly women’s breastbones
A retired banker has admitted causing a terrifying crash that left two elderly women seriously injured near Tarves.
Robert Thomas, 75, failed to check it was safe to pull out in front of an oncoming vehicle on the A920 Pitmedden to Oldmeldrum road.
The driver of the oncoming car, whose passengers included her mother and another elderly relative, had no time to react and collided with Thomas’ car.
The frightening collision left both the woman’s passengers with broken sternums.
A9 motorist over SIX times alcohol limit drove with headlights off
A reckless motorist has been slapped with a road ban for being over six times the drink-drive limit on the A9.
Drunk Ross Wilson was caught behind the wheel late on April 3 this year, when he was seen driving through the town centre of Thurso without his headlights switched on.
A concerned member of the public, who knew Wilson and was also driving at the time, began to follow the 26-year-old to warn him about his lights.
However, the acquaintance was forced to call the police when he witnessed Wilson swerving on the A9 and veering onto the opposing carriageway.
Married father’s sex toy assault on elderly neighbour was ‘misjudged’
A predator assaulted a frail pensioner with a sex toy, then blamed his “misjudged” actions on the confusion caused by a sodium deficiency.
Creepy James Donald McBoyle cornered his former Tarves neighbour, a then-76-year-old stroke survivor, in her own home on the pretence of visiting to fix her boiler.
Then he inflicted a frightening sex attack on the helpless woman after removing a vibrator and bottle of sexual lubricant from a plastic bag he carried into her property.
McBoyle’s vulnerable victim, who suffers from anxiety, had the device forced upon her as the sick sex offender told her that she liked it.
Torry mum fled crumbling concrete flat with kids but left dogs to suffer
A Torry mum and her children fled their crumbling concrete home but the woman left behind her pet dogs to suffer in squalid conditions.
Donna Fraser was forced to evacuate her Aberdeen home on Pentland Road, Balnagask, after the flat’s ceiling collapsed and the property flooded.
The 36-year-old mum-of-four found herself among hundreds of residents in the area whose dwellings contain the dangerous Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) – a porous material that can structurally fail when exposed to moisture.
Two of her dogs named Reggie and Dakota had to be destroyed after being exposed to faeces and urine, household debris, soaking wet carpets and dampness.
Homeless man repaid ex who took him in by taking knife to her throat
An Aberdeen man took a breadknife to his former partner’s throat after she kindly allowed the homeless man to stay in her home.
Christopher Graham, 35, also struck his victim’s head with a bottle of water, leaving a permanent scar on her face.
The nasty thug repeatedly threatened to stab the woman while brandishing the blade – even as the terrified woman was on the phone with the police.
Graham, who has since acknowledged his violent actions will land him in prison, also threatened to stab police officers if they came to rescue her.
Illegal immigrant secured Aberdeen tenancy with fake UK driving licence
An illegal immigrant was caught in Aberdeen using a fake UK driving licence with his brother’s name on it.
Lithuanian national Regimantas Surna, 34, may have been unlawfully living in the country for up to 15 years, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told on Friday.
Appearing in the dock, he admitted to obtaining fake documents – in this case, a British driver’s licence – that bore his photograph but included his sibling’s identity.
Surna, who was jailed for six months, is understood to be at risk of deportation following his release from prison.
Watch: Savage Soul bar thug avoids jail after rampage caught on camera
A bar-brawling brute has avoided prison despite knocking a man out and stamping on his head in a shocking ordeal caught on camera.
Nicholas Adams, 33, stared at his victim at Soul in Aberdeen’s city centre, before launching a terrifying attack that came completely out of the blue.
His victim, who was knocked out by a blow, fell to the floor where Adams began to stamp on his motionless body.
Adams previously admitted to the horrifying assault, which was captured on CCTV camera footage that went viral.
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