Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Man avoids prison sentence after hurling racist abuse during Palestine demonstration
A man who hurled racist abuse before spitting on a man taking part in a protest through Aberdeen city centre has narrowly avoided a prison sentence.
Sean Davidson, 23, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted accosting the man as he followed the protest down Union Street.
Davidson, who had been drinking, tried to cross through the throng of people to get a bus and became aggressive.
He then shouted a racist slur at the man and spat in his face.
Peterhead man told police to ‘go home’ to their own country after punching microwave
A Peterhead man has been fined almost £1,000 after he verbally abused police officers and attacked a household appliance.
Marc Thomson appeared in the town’s sheriff court on Friday when he admitted to causing fear and alarm in a home he shared with his partner and her children last year.
The court heard how the 31-year-old returned to the property at 12.30am on November 23 before beginning to play loud music.
University in payout to professor after she sustained ‘life-changing head injury’ at work
A city university is to pay compensation after one of its professors tripped on a muddy ramp and had to change roles.
Long-serving member of staff Amanda Lee was walking at Aberdeen University’s campus in May 2019 when she fell on an access ramp that was covered in mud.
Prof Lee, who has worked at the university for 22 years, suffered a head injury she described as “debilitating”.
It led her to suffer problems with concentration and focus for extended periods.
Five-times the limit dangerous A9 driver swerved into oncoming lane
A dangerous driver spotted swerving into the oncoming lane on the A9 was more than five times the drink-drive limit.
David Easton had travelled from Birmingham and was driving “extremely erratically” on the A9 by Lynwilg on Saturday February 1.
A police witness following Eastman believed there would be a head-on crash as a result of his driving – which a sheriff branded “grotesquely horrifying”.
Fraserburgh man threatened to bury partner in the woods where no one would find her
A Fraserburgh man threatened to bury his partner’s body somewhere no one would ever find her as part of a campaign of abuse.
Benjamin Hobden appeared at Peterhead Sheriff Court for sentencing, after earlier admitting to a series of offences against his girlfriend dating back two years.
The court heard how they included “shouting and screaming” during a children’s sleepover and pushing her to her injury within their Fraserburgh home.
Spurned Fraserburgh man charged after sending woman naked images
A stalker has appeared in court and admitted targeting a woman in Fraserburgh for six years.
Barry Wemyss – who has a previous conviction for stalking dating back to 2021 – sent messages, nude images of himself and chocolates to his victim despite her telling him she was not interested.
The 41-year-old appeared at Peterhead Sheriff Court for sentencing.
Nairn sex offender targeted underage girl and women
Five different young women and an underage girl were pestered over a four-year period by a Nairn sex offender.
Codey Masson, who had a previous conviction for a similar type of sex offence that he committed during the same time period of August 2015 to August 2019, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court.
The 28-year-old admitted six charges in total, one of engaging in sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16 and five others of communicating indecently with the women and sending photos of a penis to them and occasionally exposing himself to some of his victims.
Woman found guilty of brutally murdering man in Aberdeen flat
A former drug addict and prostitute has been found guilty of murdering Aberdeen man Neil Jolly in a city centre high-rise flat.
Elizabeth Sweeney, 36, was on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen accused of murdering Neil Jolly by assaulting him and repeatedly striking him to the head and body with a kettle.
Sweeney – a crack and heroin addict at the time – was acquitted on Friday of the allegation that she attempted to conceal the murder by cleaning the body of Mr Jolly, 49, in the bathroom at his flat in Marischal Court before covering his body with a duvet.
Masked robber claims he was vigilante ‘getting back’ at Huntly drug dealers who got him hooked
A masked robber who claims he was a vigilante targeting dealers peddling drugs to children has been jailed for more than three years.
Drug addict Shane Cogan-Eells appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted robbing a number of people within their homes while brandishing a kitchen knife.
Cogan-Eells, 31, stole games consoles, cash, clothes and accessories – on one occasion by holding a blade to his terrified victim’s neck.
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Woman had drugs worth up to £23,000 at her Fort William home
A drug dealer had cannabis worth up to £23,844 at her Fort William home, Inverness Sheriff Court has heard.
Keirein Morrison directed officers to the class B drugs when they turned up at her door to carry out a search.
Police also found £4,500 in cash and a notepad believed to contain a ‘tick list’.
Aberdeen 16-year-old’s 30-hour joyride through Inverness and Moray
A reckless 16-year-old Aberdeen joyrider managed to evade police for 30 hours as he drove dangerously in Inverness and Moray.
The boy, who is now 17 and cannot be named for legal reasons, was warned he would be locked up, with a sheriff telling him: “You are clearly not a fit person to be freed.”
In a series of dangerous and life-threatening incidents that spanned 30 hours in Inverness and Moray, the boy:
- Drove straight at police officers in Inverness causing them to dive out of the way
- Deliberately crashed head-on into another car
- Sped along pavements striking road signs
- Forced other cars to take evasive action as he sped through Keith on the wrong side of the road
Landowner burned hazardous waste just metres from Aberdeenshire village
A landowner is facing a £60,000 bill after he flouted environmental laws by illegally keeping and burning waste – including asbestos – just metres from an Aberdeenshire village.
The residents of Potterton had to keep their windows and doors shut as the “choking smog” seeping into their homes from Derek McAllister’s fires, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
McAllister, 61, was prosecuted after he ignored repeated warnings from police, the fire service and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) to stop storing and burning cars, fridges, rubber tyres, household and building waste and sheets of asbestos.
Prolific child predator handed new sentence after girl targeted in McDonald’s
A prolific paedophile has been handed another prison sentence after he targeted a 14-year-old girl and sent her naked images of himself.
Stewart Barclay, 24, from Turriff, left his victim with “substantial and ongoing effects” and was handed a 32-month sentence.
Barclay – who has previously been branded a “menace to teenage girls” – asked the child to be his girlfriend and began to send her crude messages, naked photographs and a short video of him pleasuring himself.
Aberdeen jewellery thief handed himself in to police because he ‘wanted to go back to prison’
An Aberdeen jewellery thief pleaded for hotel staff to report him to police because he wanted “to go back to prison”.
Derek Ellington burst into the Premier Inn on North Anderson Drive and demanded that reception staff call 999 because he had just broken into a nearby hairdressers.
As the police arrived, the 38-year-old handed them two jewellery boxes – each of which contained a silver necklace – stating that he’d stolen them and demanding to be sent back to prison.
Searching Ellington, officers also found a number of lollipops concealed in his pocket.
Oil rig boss caught clocking 108mph in BMW handed road ban
A BP oil rig boss has been banned from the roads after police clocked him doing more than 100mph in his orange BMW.
Lindsay Rennie, 58, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted driving dangerously and at close to double the speed limit on the A92 between Stonehaven and Montrose.
Police chased Rennie – a well safe leader on BP offshore installations – for more than a mile before he finally pulled his car over to the side of the road.
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Deer DNA helps catch Caithness hunter in landmark legal case
A Caithness man whose dog attacked a deer while he was illegally hare coursing has become the first person in Scotland to be convicted and sentenced under new hunting legislation.
Nickolas Chenier’s golden lurcher was spotted chasing the animal into the Olrig cemetery car park before members of the public intervened.
Chenier killed the animal with a knife and loaded it into his van.
Man who made ‘throat cutting’ threat to fellow bus passenger is jailed
A bus passenger who terrified a woman by drawing his finger across his throat in an intimidating slashing motion has been jailed.
Brian Robertson appeared via video link at Inverness Sheriff Court where he admitted a series of charges relating to threatening behaviour and an assault involving police officers.
Robertson, 43, got off a bus outside Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, and stared at another passenger through the window while making a cutting motion across his throat.
He then pointed at the frightened woman as if to suggest she would be the intended victim.
Inverness nightmare neighbour finally jailed over shotgun death threats
An Inverness nightmare neighbour who made threats to kill and hinted at having a shotgun has been jailed for two months.
Donald Bain, 73, hurled abuse at a woman and threatened to kill her and her partner.
He shouted: “Where’s your police now? Send your troops,” and told her partner: “I will destroy you and your police b****.”