Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Hiccupping Elgin drink-driver traced after police followed trail of leaking oil
An Elgin drink-driver who crashed into a pedestrian crossing pole was caught after police followed a trail of oil that was leaking from his vehicle.
Dylan Sutherland was found parked up in his grey Mitsubishi Shogun, hiccupping and slurring his words.
Elgin Sheriff Court was told Sutherland, 23, had been on a night out and remembers nothing about the incidents, but believes his drink may have been spiked.
Heroic Aberdeen woman bites Staffy to save her beloved pet from vicious attack
A heroic Aberdeen dog owner saved her beloved pet from a vicious attack by an out-of-control Staffordshire Bull Terrier – by biting the Staffy’s ears.
The brave woman leapt into action when the Staffy, named Storm, pounced on her precious Maltese pooch.
Initially unable to get the bigger dog to let go of her terrified little pet, the desperate owner clamped her own jaws down on the animal’s ear – and it worked.
Man, 35, accused of deliberately setting fire to Elgin hotel
A man has appeared in court accused of deliberately setting fire to an Elgin hotel.
Around 40 firefighters from across the region were sent to the blaze at Ladyhill House on Hill Street just before 2am on Friday.
No one was injured, however Police Scotland said they were treating the fire as “wilful” and appealed for witnesses.
Now, Callum Banks, 35, has appeared in private at Elgin Sheriff Court accused of three charges.
Firestarter jailed after he set Aberdeen flat blaze causing £27,000 damage
A north-east man has been jailed for more than three years after he started a terrifying flat fire by setting two mattresses ablaze.
Jason Kuzmicki, 40, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted starting the fire in two separate rooms of the Mastrick property.
Firefighters put their lives on the line to search for Kuzmicki in the burning building after his mother tried to enter the property, the court was told.
However, Kuzmicki had already fled the building after starting the fire.
Firm fined over safety failings after employee seriously injured
An Aberdeenshire firm has been fined over safety failings after an employee suffered life-changing injuries in a fall at work.
Raymond Winton was working for EFAB Limited at the time of the incident, guiding and loading a “shiplift structure”, suspended from a crane, onto a flatbed lorry.
Mr Winton fell from the trailer and, with no safety netting or harness in place, suffered serious injuries, which still affect him now more than five years after the accident.
It happened at Fraserburgh Harbour on March 4 2019.
Violent thieves laughed following assault and robbery of man in his own home
A woman has been jailed after she attacked a man she met at a support group and robbed him of £400.
Hannah Foliant, 32, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where she admitted her part in the frightening assault on the man in his home.
Foliant, along with two others, had turned up at the 66-year-old’s door with alcohol and drugs before they demanded money.
When he refused, they assaulted him a number of times before threatening him with the scissors.
Inverness domestic abuser jailed after attacking partner again
A father-of-two who attacked the same woman twice in six years has been jailed and branded “exceptionally violent” by a sheriff.
Duncan Mackenzie’s victim was first attacked by him in 2015 but he avoided a jail sentence when she wrote a letter pleading for mercy.
But on May 1 2022 she was attacked again by her drunk partner as she drove him back to a Highlands hotel to meet friends.
Firm fined £165,000 after worker strangled by hoodie in roller door
A north-east industrial door firm has been fined £165,000 after it admitted safety failings that led to the tragic death of a north-east dad.
Mark Mathers, from Pitcaple, was asphyxiated when his hoodie got trapped in the mechanics of a roller door at Specialist Cars Volkswagen in Aberdeen and he died three days later in hospital.
The 33-year-old’s employer, Patrick Forman Industrial Doors, appeared in Aberdeen Sheriff Court today and admitted breaching health and safety laws in relation to the accident in 2018.
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Man jailed after threatening to stab workers in Aberdeen Lidl
A man has been jailed after threatening to stab staff at an Aberdeen supermarket.
Jamie Robb, 34, appeared via video link from prison after being put on remand in March following the incident within the Lidl store on the Lang Stracht earlier this year.
Robb had been shopping in the store at lunchtime on March 23 when security staff noticed he was “acting strangely”, the court heard.
How an Aberdeen mum sent her childhood abuser to jail after confronting him in court
“I’ve tried to take my own life three times and I’ve self-harmed because of what he did to me,” the Aberdeen mum-of-two says, adding: “It’s been the longest, most difficult five years of my life.”
The 33-year-old was speaking after finally coming face-to-face with her sexual abuser Ronald McKay Gill in court and seeing him jailed for three years.
Oil worker Gill, 69, of Buckie, listened as his victim gave damning evidence against him and sat “emotionless” in the dock during his trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
“It was no surprise to me that he pled not guilty,” she said.
Fochabers man in court after admitting ripping piercing from partner’s face
A Fochabers man has been placed under supervision after admitting attacking his ex-partner and ripping a piercing out of her nose.
Allan Burgess, 47, had previously denied any wrongdoing and claimed he had himself been a victim of abuse, but later changed his plea on the morning of a trial at Elgin Sheriff Court.
Appearing for sentencing, Burgess of Milne Road, Fochabers, carried out the assault in April last year.
Woman threatened to kill cops who wouldn’t drive her home to Ellon
An intoxicated woman threatened to kill police officers when they refused to give her a lift home from Aberdeen to Ellon.
Police were called to remove Isla Wright, 40, from a house party after she refused to leave and kindly offered to give her a lift to the bus station.
But, unimpressed, Wright unleashed a “barrage of abuse” towards police and even made death threats when they said they wouldn’t drive her all the way back to her home in Ellon.
Wright then went on to assault three officers at the police station after being arrested.
Drink-driving Aberdeen headteacher wins chance to have roads ban reduced
An Aberdeen headteacher who has two drink-driving convictions has won a bid to have a roads ban reduced.
Greenbrae Primary’s Anna Royle, 45, was found guilty of crashing her Audi Q2 into another car before fleeing the collision scene in Aberdeen on October 1 2023.
The city’s sheriff court heard how police found the headmistress in a nearby lane holding her dog in her arms. Police officers tested her and found her to be the drink-driving limit.
It was her second drink-driving conviction – she was first found guilty in 2019.
Highland police officer left permanently scarred
A police sergeant who has been left with a bite mark on his leg when an Inverness man bit his shin is to receive £1,200 in compensation from his attacker.
Dainis Letkovskis sank his teeth into the officer’s leg as he was being assisted into a police van.
Fiscal depute Pauline Gair told Inverness Sheriff Court that officers had been called to the 29-year-old’s home in Castlehill Drive, Inverness, on July 20 2023.
Two men in court accused of sexual assaults on teen girls at Aberdeen hotel
Two men have appeared in court accused of plying two teen girls with drink before sexually assaulting them at an Aberdeen hotel.
Abdur Rakib and Abdul Kaium, both 36, are facing charges that they took one girl, then aged 17, and another, aged 16, to Aberdeen’s Mercure Hotel where they allegedly subjected them to sexual violence, which included biting.
The men are accused of a total of 10 charges that relate to sexual offences that allegedly took place at Zara’s Indian Cuisine in Peterhead and Soul Bar on Aberdeen’s Union Street.
Yob ordered to stay away from ex he urged to kill herself
A callous yob has been ordered to stay away from his ex after encouraging her to kill herself and wiping his spit and snot on her face.
Matthew Leys “persistently and relentlessly” abused his partner, subjecting her to cruel, disgusting and controlling behaviour on a regular basis.
Among his vile behaviour, Leys, 20, mocked the woman’s father’s death and told her to “go be with” him.
He also chased the woman in a car and smeared his own saliva and snot across her mouth and face.
Macduff man avoids jail after late night assault fuelled by drink
A Macduff man has avoided jail and put on curfew after admitting an assault in the town last year.
Instead, Peter Brown, 32, has been tagged and ordered to stay within his James Street address between the hours of 7pm to 7am for four months.
Brown admitted punching a man to the head repeatedly on December 2, resulting in the man’s injury.
Man to pay compensation to Aberdeen pub punch victim
A man has been ordered to pay his victim compensation after elbowing him in the face and then taking a run-up to knock him out with a punch.
Andrew Moule was having a seemingly amicable conversation with the man in Spirit Level pub on Exchange Street in Aberdeen before he suddenly lashed out.
After stunning his victim with an elbow to the face, the 47-year-old took a short run up and punched him, knocking him back into a pillar and then to the floor unconscious.
Fraserburgh teen, 17, denies dangerous driving after dramatic Peterhead police chase and crash
A 17-year-old boy has appeared in court in connection with a dramatic police chase and crash in Peterhead.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons because of his age, faced a total of six different charges when he appeared in the dock at Peterhead Sheriff Court.
He entered pleas of not guilty to each allegation, including one of dangerous driving relating to the collision, which was captured on dashcam footage and has since gone viral.
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Liverpool mum caught with more than £100,000 worth of heroin and cash
A mum who carried out a high-stakes drug deal has avoided prison after she claimed she didn’t know she had more than £50,000 in cash in the boot of her car.
Alison Dwyer, 37, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where she admitted becoming involved in the supply of the Class A drug heroin when a drug gang threatened to harm her partner.
When Dwyer’s car was stopped by police they found £53,000 in cash, which led them to a hotel room, where heroin worth £64,000 was discovered.
Banff man placed under supervision after refusing to stay away from partner
A Banff domestic abuser has been placed under supervision after ignoring a court order to stay away from his partner.
Damian Kucharski, 40, was told not to approach his partner after being convicted of domestic abuse last year.
Part of his bail conditions meant he was not supposed to contact her, but the pair were seen together in Fyvie, prompting Kucharski to hide in nearby gardens.
Taxpayers left with £1.3m bill after council chiefs falsely accused foster parent
A council has been forced to pay out £1.3 million after social workers falsely accused a Moray foster carer of “sexual impropriety”.
The foster family took legal action against Moray Council after finding themselves subject to a raft of allegations from council staff, which a sheriff later ruled to be “erroneous and misleading”.
Despite the local authority being found to have breached the family’s human rights and being ordered to pay them compensation, the council appealed – but lost.
Elgin teen ordered to pay compensation to man he assaulted at bus stop
An Elgin teenager has been ordered to carry out unpaid work after admitting a drunken Christmas Eve attack on a stranger at a bus stop.
Ty McLellan was just 16 when he carried out the assault on a man as they waited for a bus in Fochabers almost three years ago.
Now aged 18, McLellan appeared in Elgin Sheriff Court to admit the attack, which left the man covered in cuts and scratches to his face.
McLellan also admitted a further charge of having a knife on an Elgin street last summer.
Aberdeen paedophile exposed himself to undercover ‘child’
An Aberdeen paedophile sent sick messages and exposed himself on a video call to a decoy posing as a 14-year-old girl online.
Craig Ewing was snared by an organised online child protection team called Dank Dragon, which targets people talking inappropriately to children online.
A female within the group set up a profile using digitally altered photographs of herself to make her look like a child.
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