Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Ellon woman paralysed in horror A90 crash tells trial of life-changing injuries
An Ellon woman who was paralysed by an alleged dangerous driver has told a jury about her devastating injuries.
Ellen Stickle, 27, worked in a care home and was a keen runner before the A90 accident three years ago but now requires round-the-clock care.
She was the passenger in a car being driven by her then-boyfriend Callum McIntyre when it was involved in a crash with another vehicle.
Teen yob knocked man unconscious in Aberdeen city centre – then stamped on his head
A teenage yob knocked a man unconscious on an Aberdeen street – then proceeded to kick and stamp on his head.
Taylor Rooney admitted a charge of assault to severe injury over the frightening attack, which happened on St Nicholas Street.
The 19-year-old, while acting along with another person, threw a bag into his victim’s head, causing him to fall to the ground.
Abusive football ref warned ex things could get ‘massively nasty’
A football referee has been ordered to stay away from his ex-partner after bombarding her with messages and warning things could get “massively nasty”.
Murdoch Anderson’s seven-year relationship with the woman came to an end last year – something the 47-year-old struggled to accept.
In the months that followed, Anderson subjected his ex to frequent and frightening messages insisting they speak or that he was going around to her home.
Man facing assault and weapon charges following disturbance near Aberdeen’s Lemon Tree
A man has appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court charged with assault after a disturbance near the Lemon Tree on Friday.
Neriya Adiukwu, whose address was given as Aberdeen, is also charged with having a bladed or sharply pointed article in a public place.
The 19-year-old made no plea or declaration during the appearance, which was held in private.
He was remanded in custody and the case will call again within eight days.
Savage Buckie street attack left man with potentially life-threatening injuries
A groundsman took part in a savage Buckie street attack with an accomplice that left a man with potentially life-threatening injuries.
Brandon Ainsworth was one of two men who assaulted Barry Newlands, leaving him with bleeding on the brain and requiring an operation on his jaw.
Mr Newlands was hit on the head with a bottle, pinned to the ground and repeatedly punched and kicked by the pair during the attack at Burns Square, Buckie, in Moray.
Masked knifeman jailed over horror slash attack in Aberdeen
A masked knifeman slashed a man’s leg open – exposing the muscle – during a terrifying attack in Aberdeen.
Jack Florence turned up at the address on Marchburn Avenue along with an accomplice, both wearing balaclavas and holding knives.
When their victim answered the door, they immediately entered the property and Florence, 31, repeatedly struck him with a blade, leaving horrific slash wounds.
Men in court in Aberdeen after motorbikes found on farm
Two men have appeared in court in Aberdeen charged with handling stolen property following the discovery of motorcycles on a farm near Blairs.
John Cadden, 19, and George Cowie, 27, are each charged with six counts of reset.
Cadden also faces a charge of being concerned in the supplying of controlled drugs.
The pair, both from the Aberdeen area, each made no plea to the charges.
Woman tells trial how she fled from Dundee to Aberdeen to escape prostitution
An alleged victim of human trafficking and prostitution has told a trial how she escaped from a Dundee brothel.
The woman – who cannot be named – claimed she fled to Aberdeen with a client after believing she could trust him.
Jurors heard allegations she and another woman had their passports confiscated before being forced into sex work to pay-off five-figure debts.
Driver flipped car into field after getting distracted by dog
A man crashed and flipped his car into a field in Macduff – after being distracted by a dog.
William Lindsay had been giving a woman, and her pet dog, a lift to the shop when the incident happened on the A98 at Burnside, Macduff.
But when the large animal became “agitated”, the 43-year-old got distracted, drifting onto the wrong side of the road and then overcorrecting and hitting an embankment.
Man jailed for delivering drugs for organised crime gang that threatened mum
A man has been jailed after driving cocaine and heroin from England to Aberdeen for an organised crime gang that threatened his mum.
Tatenda Musanhu acted as a courier, delivering packages of drugs from the Midlands up to Aberdeen.
The 25-year-old and his partner received “increasingly threatening” phone calls from an organised crime group that demonstrated they knew exactly where his mother lived.
Aberdeen stripper who sexually assaulted hen party guests loses conviction appeal
An Aberdeen stripper who was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women during a hen party performance has failed in a bid to have his convictions quashed.
Stuart Kennedy – who goes by the name Sergeant Eros – was placed on the sex offenders register for sitting on one woman’s lap and rubbing his body against another.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard how the 40-year-old repeatedly tried to embrace the first woman during the May 2022 performance at a venue in the city called the Cellar.
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Brutal Aberdeen rapist hit with 14-year extended sentence
A brutal repeat rapist has been locked up and hit with an extended 14-year sentence for offences in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and even abroad.
Social workers branded Tom Farquhar “hostile” towards women as they prepared background reports on the frightening 28-year-old.
Farquhar continued to protest his innocence despite being convicted of five charges by a jury following a High Court trial.
Farmer hit Highland bridge with combine harvester and caused £60,000 of damage
A farmer caused £60,000 of damage to a narrow Highland bridge when he misjudged its width and then drove his combine harvester across.
David Nicolson and a farmhand measured the bridge at Dava before attempting the crossing, but Nicolson failed to appreciate that the road later narrowed by eight inches.
After the 62-year-old farmer drove off, concerned witnesses noticed that the side walls of the bridge were “bulging” with an alarming six-inch gap opening up between the bridge wall and the road.
Dangerous drink-driver ignored passengers’ pleas to slow down before crashing into tree
A dangerous drink-driver ignored pleas to slow down before crashing into a tree.
Matthew Hogg – who boasted “I know what I’m doing” as he skidded and swerved on roads around Lossiemouth – lost control of the car and crashed head-on, causing three of the occupants serious injury.
When police arrived he told them he wasn’t the driver – a lie that fell apart when all his passengers identified him as being behind the wheel.
Unpaid work for dissatisfied man who threatened to slash drug dealer
A dissatisfied customer has been handed unpaid work after assaulting and threatening to slash his cannabis dealer who he felt had “short-changed” him.
Derek Campbell “wrestled” with his dealer in an alleyway off Turriff’s High Street after a disagreement about the transaction and tried to steal his rucksack.
Eventually, the 33-year-old’s victim managed to flee into a nearby coffee shop where he sought refuge.
Young Inverness knife thugs locked up for slash attacks
Two teenagers are facing custodial sentences after admitting two different knife attacks in Inverness.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard that 18-year-old Calvin Abbott and a 16-year-old boy – who cannot be named for legal reasons – slashed the neck of another teenager and tried to steal his hoodie.
That vicious attack – on November 7 2023 – came just months after Abbott, of Novar Crescent, Evanton, stabbed a second youth on the legs and arms.
Undercover operation in Inverness snares County Lines cocaine dealer
Two teenagers are facing custodial sentences after admitting two different knife attacks in Inverness.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard that 18-year-old Calvin Abbott and a 16-year-old boy – who cannot be named for legal reasons – slashed the neck of another teenager and tried to steal his hoodie.
That vicious attack – on November 7 2023 – came just months after Abbott, of Novar Crescent, Evanton, stabbed a second youth on the legs and arms.
Man in court after £700k cannabis bust at former Spean Bridge hotel
A man has appeared in court after a police raid uncovered £700,000 of cannabis allegedly growing inside the former Spean Bridge Hotel.
Fejzi Shabani was arrested and charged following the discovery of 1,000 illicit plants at the property on Station Road around 11.20am on Saturday August 17.
The 34-year-old attended Inverness Sheriff Court in private on Monday, when he made no plea, was committed for further examination and was remanded in custody.
Shabani is charged with the production of cannabis and being concerned in the
supply of the drug.
Sadistic teen tortured paralysed Peterhead man
A sadistic teenager who tortured a paralysed Peterhead man on a video call to an English drugs gang was detained for six years and eight months today.
Jack Cleary tipped the man from his wheelchair and stabbed him in the right leg with a knife before pouring salt in the wound.
Cleary, who was aged just 18 at the time, threatened to stab his victim in the eyes with hypodermic needles and struck him with a baseball bat as he lay on the floor of a flat in Peterhead.
Brothel accused planned ‘happy endings’ in Aberdeen, trial told
An alleged brothel madam who denies forcing women trafficked from Thailand into prostitution in Aberdeen was in the UK illegally to provide massages with “happy endings”, she told her trial.
Mananchaya Wanitthanawet, 40, denies controlling two women and arranging for them to have sex with men at flats in Scottish cities, including Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness and Edinburgh.
Jurors at the High Court in Dundee previously heard claims the women – who spoke no English – were lured to the UK on the promise of lucrative massage work, before having their passports and documents removed from them.
Highland church missionary guilty of violent domestic abuse against wife
A church missionary who criticised the morality of an Inverness gay pride event has been found guilty of abusing and assaulting his wife.
Donald Morrison was convicted following a two-day trial at Inverness Sheriff Court of a campaign of domestic abuse against his wife of 17 years, Haidi, between November 2022 and November 2023.
The former member of the Free Church (Continuing) was also found guilty by Sheriff David Harvie of attempting to pervert the course of justice by writing templates of emails for her to try to get the case dropped and also a breach of a special bail condition not to contact her.
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Boy, 3, answers door to police as drugged-up woman found unconscious inside
A three-year-old child answered the door to police officers who then found the woman who was supposed to be looking after him unconscious surrounded by drugs and razorblades.
Police officers were shocked at the squalid and dangerous conditions when they entered the property in the north-east.
Floors were covered in dog urine and broken glass and various razorblades were seen in easy reach of the toddler, who had a heavily soiled nappy.
Boozy Highland mum drove children home from nursery
A Highland mum-of-two collected her children from nursery and then drove home while almost five times the drink-drive limit.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard that 37-year-old Kerri Mackintosh was seen by her mother to stumble out of her vehicle.
Fiscal depute Adele Gray said that Mackintosh, who has a previous conviction for a drink-related motoring offence, had gone to pick up her children from a nursery in Dingwall on the afternoon of June 26 this year.
Dog ban for man who caused ‘horrific’ suffering
A man has been banned from keeping dogs after causing animals “horrific” suffering – with one puppy in such a bad state inspectors thought it was dead.
Charles McDonagh pled guilty to causing two dogs unnecessary suffering over a period of three months in 2021.
The 28-year-old kept the animals in a squalid farm house in Kintore and failed to seek veterinary treatment for a long list of infections and medical issues.
Guilty Fraserburgh driver’s A90 crash paralysed woman
A man has been convicted of dangerous driving after a horror crash that paralysed a young Ellon woman.
Gavin Coull drove his black BMW at high speed into the back of a Fiesta being driven by Callum McIntyre causing it to smash through crash barriers and tumble onto a grassy embankment off the A90.
Mr McIntyre’s then-girlfriend Ellen Stickle, 27, was a passenger in the Fiesta and was instantly paralysed from the neck down.
Thug stabbed drugs rival’s bum with steak knife
A violent thug has been jailed after stabbing a rival in the buttocks with a steak knife in a drugs-related dispute.
Steven Smith walked up to his victim in the street and, unprovoked, plunged the serrated blade into his behind.
Bizarrely, Smith, 26, then went back to his victim’s address with him where they met three other males the complainer did not know.
Yob rammed baseball bat-wielding drug rival with car
A man has been jailed after repeatedly driving his car into a drugs rival in a dramatic clash in Aberdeen.
Leon Smith turned up to the pre-arranged “fight” and used his Honda SUV as a weapon.
The 50-year-old repeatedly rammed his victim, who was wielding a baseball bat, leaving him covered in cuts and bruises, including a nasty gash to his head.
Jail for Keith rapist who abused woman ‘all weekend’
A sexual predator who plied his frightened victim with alcohol and drugs before raping her twice during an abuse-filled weekend has been jailed.
Neil Kennedy targeted the woman at his home in Keith after she agreed to share his bed because she “trusted him”.
Kennedy, 41, had denied a charge that he attacked the woman twice in one day but was found guilty by a jury following a trial at the High Court in Inverness.
He returned to the dock for sentencing today and was jailed for six years and six months.
Former Aberdeen prosecutor ‘shocked’ by dark web plot to kill him, trial told
A former Aberdeen prosecutor was “stunned” upon learning that a former customer at his family’s pub allegedly planned to assassinate him, a trial has heard.
Darren Harty, 37, gave evidence in the trial of 41-year-old Martin Ready at the High Court in Glasgow.
Ready denies attempting to conspire to murder Mr Harty by teaming up with others via the dark web to target the lawyer.
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