Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Drunk carer fined for abandoning wheelchair-bound man at Inverurie music festival
A Highland carer who got drunk at a country music festival in Inverurie and abandoned a disabled man she was supposed to be looking after has been fined.
Rhona Duncan downed pints of wine and behaved “obnoxiously” to staff after she left the wheelchair-bound man, 62, on his own at the Thainstone Agricultural Centre on June 4 last year.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that the man began crying after his 50-year-old carer had left him feeling alone and “uncared for”.
Drink-driver banned after he got behind the wheel and smashed into tree
A man has been banned from the roads after he wrapped his car around a tree while nearly four times the drink-drive limit.
Nicol Petrie, 46, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted drinking following his shift as a night manager and then trying to drive home.
Petrie crashed on Skene Street, Aberdeen, in the early hours of the morning.
Fraudster jailed after scamming £110,000 from friend in Hillary Clinton documentary lie
A Fraserburgh fraudster has been jailed after scamming her friend into handing over more than £110,000 by pretending to make a documentary about Hillary Clinton.
Anne Mulloy sat unmoved as the sheriff handed her a three-year jail term.
The trial at Peterhead Sheriff Court heard how Mulloy, 63, spun a web of lies to entice her friend, actress Helena Robinson, to hand over multiple amounts of cash between 2011 and 2017.
Mintlaw driver with replica assault rifle reached 120mph in police chase
A Mintlaw driver with a replica assault rifle took police on a high-speed chase through Angus and into Broughty Ferry.
Officers had to abandon their chase multiple times after Christian Williams – earlier spotted slumped at the wheel of his private-plated car – hit speeds of 120mph in his BMW.
Even having three burst tyres was not enough to convince the 37-year-old to give up.
Williams eventually tried to shunt his way past police cars which had cornered him.
Search of Inverness home recovered cocaine worth £10,000
An Inverness man has admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply after police found £10,000 worth of the drug at his house.
Officers carried out a search warrant at John MacDonald’s Aird Avenue home, finding cocaine, cash and scales.
MacDonald told officers drugs found in his bedroom were “personal” but police also recovered cocaine in the shed.
Masked knifeman’s botched robbery bid at Aberdeen newsagent
A masked, knife-wielding yob is facing a prison sentence after a failed robbery bid at an Aberdeen city centre newsagent.
Jason Kuzmicki demanded money and cigarettes when he walked into Sweet News on Crown Street in March.
The 40-year-old bandit brandished a blade at a female member of staff and made threats to force her to hand over cash and cigarettes.
‘If you grass I’ll kill you’: Man’s warning to neighbour after assault
An Inverness man assaulted his neighbour and then told him: “If you grass I’ll kill you”.
Steven Martin had been drinking and smoking cannabis with his neighbours when an argument broke out as Martin played on the man’s recently purchased slot machine.
Martin then assaulted his victim and smashed the machine before issuing the chilling warning.
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Inverness men jailed after ‘appalling act of violence’ sparked by wrong number
Two men have been jailed after they burst into an Inverness man’s home and committed “a brutal and appalling attack”.
Thomas Marello, 29, Corey MacLeod, 22, and Rhunne MacGregor, 26, carried out their assault inside a flat on Mackintosh Road, Inverness, on the night of March 22 2023.
Inverness Sheriff Court had previously been told that the incident began after their victim, Stephen Dick, mistakenly called MacLeod’s mother.
Woman jailed after attacking Aberdeen pensioner in his own home
A drugged-up woman has been jailed after attacking and seriously injuring a 73-year-old man in his own home.
Mandy Nicol had been taking drugs with the pensioner’s son all day before waking up to realise he had disappeared along with her mother’s credit card.
Fearing her mother’s wrath, Nicol went in search of her friend, attending at his address on Park Street.
Drug dealer caught with nearly £20,000 of heroin and cocaine
A man who was caught with nearly £20,000 in Class A drugs has been jailed and will likely be deported to South Africa following his release.
Viwe Bashe, 39, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine after police officers swooped on his car and then searched his Kincorth home.
Inside, they found nearly £20,000 worth of drugs and a plastic Lidl bag containing more than £5,000 in cash.
Attempted child rapist back in dock over sexual assault on nurse
A former oil worker who was jailed over the attempted rape of a 12-year-old girl has admitted sexually assaulting a nurse at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Thomas Donald appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted slapping the nurse on the backside despite still being subject to the sex offenders register.
Donald, 64, was jailed for four years in 2009 after he admitted trying to rape the child as she slept on a couch at an address in Aberdeen.
Thug jailed for 54th time after DNA found in robbery bid victim’s pockets
A thug has incurred his 54th jail sentence after his DNA was found inside the pockets of a man he attacked and tried to rob.
John Fargher set about his victim in a Seaton car park, repeatedly punching him to the head and then kicking him to the body.
The 42-year-old demanded cash and started rifling through the man’s pockets – which would ultimately prove to be his undoing.
Police later snared the known criminal after finding his DNA inside his victim’s pockets.
Workers locked door to office after man threatened to kill passerby outside
Workers were forced to lock themselves in their office after an Aberdeen man made threats to kill a passerby.
Richard Walton, 60, became irate in the street and was seen shouting and swearing at a member of the public before spitting in his face.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that Walton terrified a group of local workers to such a degree they ran back in and locked their office door.
Tandoori chef avoids prison after sexually assaulting 14-year-old girl
A tandoori chef who was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl has avoided a prison sentence.
Amdad Sheikh appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court to be sentenced after he was found guilty at trial of sexually touching the child at an Indian restaurant in Aberdeenshire.
The 49-year-old was also found guilty of behaving threateningly or abusively towards three teenage girls who worked at the restaurant with him.
Wannabe football agent jailed after being caught with heroin and cocaine in Aberdeen
An aspiring football agent whose career hopes were dashed by his criminal record was jailed for more than five years today after he was caught with heroin and cocaine.
Police found L’Mar Dixon with the Class A drugs and cash at a flat in Aberdeen after they turned up looking for another wanted man.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard that Dixon was found to have heroin, cocaine and money worth £12,280 in total.
Woman hounded ‘terrified’ ex and lurked outside home for two hours
A woman has been ordered to stay away from her ex after bombarding her with hundreds of messages a day and lurking outside her home.
Alicia Beaton struggled to accept the relationship was over and left her former partner “terrified” with her obsessive and threatening behaviour over the course of over a month.
The 34-year-old blew up her ex’s phone with hundreds of emails, texts, Snapchat messages, Facebook calls and even TikToks in a bid to rekindle things.
Drugged-up danger driver admits causing accident that saw car flip 180 degrees
A drug-addled driver who caused a serious head-on collision that saw his victim’s car flip over was later found to be four times the limit for cocaine.
Shaun Goldie, 56, got behind the wheel of his white van and tried to overtake a vehicle on a difficult corner on the A96 between Inverurie and Kintore, resulting in a head-on collision with another vehicle.
At the crash scene, Goldie was tested for alcohol, which was negative, but a later test for drugs found him to be four times the limit for cocaine.
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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.
Keith farmer gets lifetime ban on keeping livestock
A Keith man has been banned from keeping livestock for life after he let dozens of calves die and rot on his farm.
Council inspectors, including five vets, found dozens of carcasses littered throughout Samuel Hessin’s farm buildings – with many left to decompose next to live cattle.
It was the worst case of animal neglect Moray Council has ever seen, with the appalling conditions on Balamoon Farm moving the local authority’s inspectors to tears.
Council architect who chased child with meat cleaver slammed by sheriff for going on holiday
A senior Aberdeen City Council architect who chased a terrified child with a meat cleaver has been slammed by a sheriff after choosing to go on holiday rather than meet with court officials.
Colin Doig – who is the authority’s New Housing Manager – has been warned he faces being locked up after he admitted pursuing the child and carrying out a serious assault on his wife during a wine-fuelled rampage.
Doig’s wife was left with a serious ankle injury which required to have eight pins and a metal plate inserted in her leg as a result of his drunken attack.
Huntly man found with more than 400 indecent images on his phone
A man has been placed on the sex offenders register after police raided his home and found his device full of indecent images and videos of children.
Christopher Barron, 29, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted having over 400 images and around 40 videos featuring child abuse.
Some of the children featured in the footage were aged as young as four.
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