Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Highland American football coach had teen boys pose naked for fake sex education video
The former head coach of an Inverness American football club had teenage boys pose for naked photos and videos under the guise of making a sex education programme.
Robert ‘Robbie’ Paulin, who coached the Highland Wildcats team, assured his two victims that the footage would be used in a “matter of fact” educational film for schools and paid them to take part.
After a jury at Inverness Sheriff Court returned guilty verdicts, Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald branded the 39-year-old “very dangerous” and said he displayed “a level of grooming and manipulation that I have rarely seen”.
Cocaine driver who was nearly NINE times the limit avoids prison thanks to his mum
A cocaine driver who was nearly nine times the limit has avoided going to prison due to the impact it would have on his elderly mother.
Adrian Bremner, 47, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted having a metabolite of the Class A drug in his system when police stopped his car in October last year.
When police tested Bremner they found him to be almost nine times the legal limit.
Rosehearty man torpedoes own defence case by admitting assault
A Rosehearty man who once drove a digger through a shop during an ATM robbery demolished his own defence in a similar style when he took to the witness box and admitted assaulting his neighbour.
Duncan Elrick had been standing trial at Peterhead Sheriff Court but changed his plea to guilty after telling the jury: “I never said this was self-defence.”
The 42-year-old’s candid confession came despite earlier lodging a special defence of self-defence.
Boy, 17, accused of attempted murder after alleged Stonehaven stabbing
A 17-year-old boy has appeared in court charged with attempted murder after another teen was allegedly stabbed in the centre of Stonehaven.
Parts of Market Square in the town were sealed off on Saturday night as police investigated what they described as a “serious assault”.
An 18-year-old man, who was injured in the incident, was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. His condition is not known.
Bungling Fraserburgh dealer’s ordered to serve out sentence in jail
A Liverpool drug dealer who accidentally left £17,000 of crack cocaine and heroin on a Fraserburgh bus has been sent to prison after being unable to complete his unpaid work.
James O’Keefe, 23, was caught alongside another man in 2022 after the drugs they intended to sell were left behind and found by a bus driver.
Police later valued the haul at £17,160 with just over 100g of heroin valued at £2,400 and 147g of crack cocaine valued at £14,760.
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Aberdeen jewellery thief who begged to be sent back to prison gets his wish
An Aberdeen jewellery thief who ransacked a shop because he wanted “to go back to prison” has been granted his wish.
Derek Ellington, 38, burst into the reception of the Premier Inn on North Anderson Drive and demanded that hotel staff call the police because he had just broken into a nearby hairdressers.
As the police arrived, Ellington handed over two jewellery boxes – each of which contained a silver necklace – stating that he’d stolen them and demanding to be sent back to prison.
Flasher locked up after videos of him pleasuring himself around Peterhead found on phone
A Peterhead exhibitionist has been locked up after videos and pictures of him pleasuring himself around Buchan were discovered on his mobile phone.
Rory Kerr first hit the headlines in 2021 when it was revealed he appalled neighbours by spending up to four hours a day carrying out sex acts in his Boddam back garden.
In 2023 the sex offender was told he would not be allowed to own any device capable of accessing the internet without notifying the police.
Aberdeen man jailed for sexually assaulting girl on sleepover by licking her feet
An Aberdeen man has been jailed after he crept into a bedroom in the middle of the night and sucked a teenage girl’s toes before groping her private parts.
Self-confessed foot fetishist Lee Edwards, 45, pled guilty to one charge of sexual assault at the property in Aberdeenshire.
Edwards was convicted of licking the girl’s feet, sucking her toes, trying to remove her lower clothing and touching her private parts with his fingers over her pyjamas.
Highland drugs gang ‘bit player’ gets five years after £300,000 cocaine seizure
A “bit player” who was snared by police in a major Highland drugs trafficking operation was jailed for five years today.
Jason Mackay was found to have provided help by directing a courier who was delivering a batch of cocaine worth up to £300,000 on the streets.
Mackay, 37, contacted the man transporting the Class A drugs, including telling him: “Message me when you are 10 minutes away.”
Invergordon cannabis dealer has ‘turned over a new leaf’
A dealer who was caught out after he texted a drug menu to his housing officer has been ordered to complete unpaid work.
Sebastian Percival had been discussing his tenancy over text with the council worker before he sent them a text offering a menu of items including “ching” and “purple haze”.
The message promised “Best prices – you won’t find better than this.”
Stonehaven pensioner knocked down girl at lollipop crossing
A Stonehaven pensioner has appeared in court after he knocked down a schoolgirl as a lollipop lady helped pupils across the road.
At Forfar Sheriff Court, David Smith pled guilty to careless driving outside Edzell Primary School in December 2023.
The court heard it was a rainy afternoon when Smith, 79, passed crossing patroller Lisa Ross and struck the child, who landed on his bonnet.
Fyvie man who led police on chase around Turriff handed roads ban
A Fyvie man who led police on a chase around Turriff has been branded “extremely stupid” and banned from the roads for more than a year.
Matthew O’Neill, who Peterhead Sheriff Court heard has a previous driving ban under his belt already, raced away from a marked police car in the town last year before he lost control of his vehicle and hit a kerb.
Police would later catch up to the 25-year-old after cutting short their pursuit over safety concerns and charge him.
Aberdeen student jailed for post-graduation rape
A Nigerian student has been jailed for raping a woman on the night of a graduation party in Aberdeen.
Oyinkuro Finikumo, 41, was doing a post-graduate degree at the University of Aberdeen in 2022 and previously worked as a college lecturer in Nigeria.
Finikumo was found guilty by a majority of one charge of rape following a trial at High Court in Aberdeen last month.
Caol dealer caught with cannabis worth £23,000 spared jail
A drug dealer who had cannabis worth up to £23,844 at her Fort William home has been ordered to complete unpaid work in the community.
Police found the drug at Keirein Morrison’s Caol home, along with £4,500 in cash and a notepad believed to contain a “tick list”.
The first offender cooperated fully with officers as they searched the property – even telling them where to find the contraband.
Woman took part in £50,000 burglaries that targeted Chinese restaurant owners
A Columbian woman has been jailed for her part in a series of audacious robberies that targeted the homes of Chinese restaurant owners and netted close to £50,000 in cash, jewellery and luxury goods.
Jeny Galindo – who was human trafficked into the country by an organised crime gang – donned a wig to disguise her identity as she took part in the raids in Balmedie and Elgin.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard how the underworld criminals cased the houses of their victims for weeks, learning their movements, before executing a series of burglaries.
Galindo, 36, was spotted on CCTV at both properties and her DNA was discovered at a second property.
Duo admit being behind £1.5 million Peterhead nightclub cannabis farm
Two men have pleaded guilty to being behind a million-pound cannabis farm hidden inside a former Peterhead nightclub.
Iraldo Sarasellil and Ronaldo Abazi, both 26, appeared at Peterhead Sheriff Court today and admitted growing and supplying the drug from their Queen Street base.
Their operation came to light in September last year when police stormed the former Deja Vu nightclub and uncovered hundreds of cannabis plants.
The building was shut down and their drugs – valued at an estimated £1.5 million – were pulled out.
Cruden Bay man told to be on best behaviour for six months – for the sake of his relationship
A Cruden Bay man who shouted and swore at his pregnant partner has been told to be on his best behaviour – for the sake of his relationship.
Aaron Crossen, 28, admitted to the offence at Peterhead Sheriff Court and was warned that even though his partner was not supportive of a non-harassment order, it was still an option.
The couple got into an argument over the Christmas period that got so heated that his partner’s mum was forced to arm herself with a knife to “de-escalate” things.
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16-year-old Aberdeen danger driver locked up to protect public
A 16-year-old danger driver who led police on a 30-hour-long cat-and-mouse hunt has been locked up.
Sheriff Gary Aitken said it was a “difficult balancing act” when deciding between custody and rehabilitation for the Aberdeen boy, who is now 17.
But he opted to protect the public by sentencing the teen – who cannot be named for legal reasons – to a maximum of 15 months in a secure unit.
Macduff partygoer’s ‘morning after’ drug-driving bust on the A98
A Macduff teenager was unfit to drive when he got behind the wheel of his black Ford car the morning after he’d taken drugs at a party.
Arran Gary Paterson was caught drug-driving by police officers who discovered the 19-year-old worse-for-wear and parked up in a layby on the A98 during the morning of June 23 2024.
Banff Sheriff Court heard Paterson’s speech was “slurred”, he was “unsteady on his feet” and was making “involuntary shaking movements”.
Aberdeen man jailed after head-butting 15-year-old boy
An Aberdeen man has been jailed for two city centre assaults – one of which was on a 15-year-old boy.
Tristrum Hutchison head-butted the child, resulting in the boy losing some of his teeth, while an unrelated one-punch attack outside a nightspot left his victim permanently disfigured.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told Hutchison attacked the youth at around 6.40pm on November 24 2022 and came after Hutchison’s girlfriend, who works in a beauty salon on Crown Street, called him to say a group of youths was standing outside the shop.
Skye shinty chieftain was killed by close friend when overloaded trailer broke loose
A man has admitted causing the death of his close friend of more than 40 years after his overloaded trailer broke loose and caused a crash on Skye.
Donald “Donnie” Martin – chieftain of shinty club Skye Camanachd – died at the scene of the collision on the A87 near Portree on May 5 2022.
His old school friend, Malcolm Murchison, has now pled guilty to death by careless driving.
Fraserburgh men plead guilty after Snapchat video of them firing handgun goes viral
Two Fraserburgh men who filmed themselves firing a handgun around their hometown have avoided prison.
Snapchat footage of Yanko Pishtisky and Leon Scott’s reckless actions went viral around the town last year and now the pair have appeared in court to face the consequences.
Peterhead Sheriff Court was told the pair found the imitation weapon at the beach on May 18 last year and made the “juvenile” decision to fire it.
Man stashed knife just yards from Aberdeen police station
A man has been placed on an electronic tag after he stashed a Stanley knife just yards from a police station.
Edgar Teniuch, 38, was found in possession of the knife by two off-duty police officers, who found him scrabbling around the ground near the police car park behind Marischal College.
The two officers had just finished their shift, the Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard, on June 22, 2023 at around 10pm and were walking along Queen Street when they spotted Teniuch acting suspiciously.
Mull farm worker’s animal ban after he kept dogs in appalling conditions
A Mull farm worker has been banned from keeping or caring for animals for 10 years after his dogs were found riddled with disease and covered in faeces and urine.
Oban Sheriff Court heard that Paul Chauvet, 62, had failed to provide care for four dogs in his care – and one has since died.
Sheriff Euan Cameron described Chauvet’s treatment of his dogs as “an appalling sequence of events”.
Man killed friend with knife after row in Aberdeen high-rise
A killer was facing a lengthy jail sentence today after inflicting a fatal knife wound on the arm of a friend when violence broke out after an argument.
Dawid Majewicz, 43, struck his victim Jacek Dembinski with a kitchen knife after claiming he was hit on the head with a bottle during the row.
Mr Dembinksi, 44, was later seen to collapse, with blood pouring from him, outside the block of flats in Aberdeen where Majcewicz lived.