Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases.
Woman gets 18 years for Aberdeen high-rise murder
A former drug addict and sex worker who murdered an Aberdeen man in a city centre high-rise was jailed for 18 years today.
Elizabeth Sweeney, 36, was convicted at the High Court in Aberdeen of murdering Neil Jolly by violently attacking him and repeatedly striking him to the head and body with a kettle.
Sweeney – a crack and heroin addict at the time – was acquitted of attempting 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.
She was also acquitted of attempting to destroy evidence by cleaning the kettle used in the murder.
Careless driver knocked cyclist from bike on Inverness street
A motorist who failed to spot a cyclist and drove directly into his path has admitted careless driving at Inverness Sheriff Court.
Andrew Pearson pulled across the road directly in front of the cyclist, causing him to be thrown over the handlebars of his bike.
The rider suffered a fractured elbow as a result of the crash.
Peterhead man fined for assault on neighbour
A Peterhead man who lost his temper and left his fleeing neighbour with a permanent scar has been fined.
The town’s sheriff court heard that Dylan Richards and his neighbour had gotten into several disagreements over stolen mail and loud music before he took the law into his own hands and attacked him in a lane in the port.
The 32-year-old, whose address was given as the Caley Building, had gone out to confront the other man on December 15 last year before things turned violent.
Man who threatened to set dog on ex warned he’ll end up in prison if he doesn’t deal with aggression
A man has been ordered to stay away from his former partner after he threatened to set his dog on her.
James Smith appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted making a series of threats towards his ex at a playpark in the Northfield area of Aberdeen.
It was stated that the 40-year-old made intimidating remarks towards the woman and said he would return with his dog and command it to bite her.
He also threatened to get a female friend to “smash her face in”.
Masked robber’s jail term more than doubled after appeal judge dubs sentence ‘puzzling’
A masked robber who held a shopkeeper at knifepont has had his sentence more than doubled after a judge dubbed a colleague’s decision “puzzling”.
John Gallagher raided the Premier Store on Urquhart Road, Aberdeen, last July, and threatened the woman with a knife and pair of scissors before police intervened.
Lord Summers jailed the 51-year-old for three-and-a-half years at Edinburgh High Court in December – but now appeal judge Lord Beckett has increased that to eight years.
Kincorth children’s football coach avoids jail after punching Peterhead parent unconscious
A youth football coach has avoided going to prison after he punched and knocked out a parent during an under-13s match in Aberdeen.
Shaun Barney, 37, assaulted the man following a meaty challenge between players during the game at Banks O Dee’s Spain Park in January last year.
Following the tackle, a fight broke out between the players before parents and coaches ran onto the field in an effort to stop it.
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Drunk Peterhead man who fell asleep in his car avoids driving ban
A Peterhead man who was more than three times the legal drink driving limit has narrowly avoided losing his licence after he tried to sleep off the effects in his car.
Peterhead Sheriff Court heard that Wayne Thompson, 35, had been at a house party just before Christmas last year when he made the decision to sleep in his car.
His plan was scuppered, however, when police roused him early and arrested him.
Drug-driver who crashed car near Peterhead handed roads ban
A man who crashed his car while high on drugs near Peterhead has been handed a two-year roads ban.
Peterhead Sheriff Court heard that Martin Budge was covered in sweat and falling asleep when police attended to him on July 19 last year after his car smashed through a fence and ended up in a field near the port.
He had been spotted by a member of the public earlier in the day who sounded the alarm on the A90 Blackdog to Peterhead road as he weaved in and out of his lane and crashed into the road’s central reservation.
HMP Grampian inmate attacked and racially abused staff members
A prisoner has been handed more time behind bars for attacks on staff at HMP Grampian in Peterhead.
The town’s sheriff court heard that Jamie Ross had been serving time at the prison between 2023 and 2024 when he repeatedly got into trouble with prison officers.
It included both physical and verbal attacks on men and women.
Fiscal depute Andrew McMann described the series of offences Ross committed while in HMP Grampian.
Aberdeen woman placed under supervision after admitting child neglect
An Aberdeen woman has been placed under supervision after being found guilty of two counts of neglecting children.
One of the children tragically died aged just three months, however, Jade Martin is not being held responsible for her death.
Instead, she admitted to wilfully neglecting the infant in the 12 weeks leading up to her death.
Rap artist avoids jail after sparking major police firearms incident in Aberdeen
A knife-wielding rapper who sparked a major police incident outside a music venue in Aberdeen has avoided a prison sentence after it was revealed he was responding to an unprovoked gang attack.
Neriya Adiukwu pleaded guilty in February to brandishing what onlookers described as a “large knife or machete” outside the city’s Lemon Tree music venue on August 16 last year.
Adiukwu, 20, was involved in an altercation with a group of masked men when he was seen holding the knife.
Time’s up for Peterhead watch seller who sold fakes on Facebook
An Inverallochy man who created at least 10 Facebook pages to peddle fake watches to people online will have to count the hours until he’s allowed to leave his home.
Gary Gibb, 56, appeared at Peterhead Sheriff Court on Monday after earlier pleading guilty to breaching the copyright of brands, including Rolex, Omega, and TAG-Heuer, in 2021.
The court heard he would buy the replicas online as a third party for eager customers and made thousands in profit as a result.
Highland pair in court accused of endangering passengers by going on railway line
A couple are alleged to have repeatedly stood on a rail track in the
path of trains approaching Altnabreac station in Caithness.
Ian Appleby, 48, and Elizabeth Howe, 49, denied the charge at Wick Sheriff Court at a hearing earlier today.
The pair also pleaded not guilty to subjecting police officers to threatening or abusive behaviour and so will stand trial.
Fraserburgh man threatened to murder woman over stolen phone
A Fraserburgh man who threatened to kill a woman because of a stolen mobile phone has been told to complete unpaid work.
Ian Souter got into an argument with his victim at her front door on February 2 this year but left when she contacted police.
The 25-year-old was at Peterhead Sheriff Court on Monday to discover his fate after admitting to the offence at an earlier hearing.
Aberdeen drug user threatened neighbours because he thought their flat was vibrating
An Aberdeen man who subjected his neighbours to two weeks of aggressive behaviour and homophobic remarks over non-existent “vibrations” has been given community service.
Kevin Forbes delivered a campaign of threatening actions between October 10 and 24 last year at his Summerfield Terrace address.
The 50-year-old, who had been taking crack cocaine and heroin, believed vibrating noises were emanating from his neighbour’s property, Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard.
Ellon paedophile caught with computer software that deletes internet history
A notorious paedophile has been jailed after he was caught downloading software used to delete a computer’s internet browsing history.
Cameron Anderson, 41, was taken into police custody after it was revealed he had breached his sex offenders prevention order on a number of occasions – including by installing the encrypted messaging app Telegram on his phone.
It was discovered by police that Anderson – who has form for defying court orders after he was made subject to the sex offenders register in 2014 – had installed the computer cleaning software and then deleted it.
He was jailed for almost two years for this latest offence.
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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.
Unpaid work for Peterhead pub attacker unhappy with his lot in life
A Peterhead man who was unhappy with his career took out his frustrations on three men on two different occasions, a court has heard.
Graham Bremner appeared at Peterhead Sheriff Court earlier this week to face sentencing after earlier lodging his guilty pleas to three assaults.
All of the attacks took place in the Harbour Lights bar in the town and while Bremner, 34, was intoxicated.
Social media insults spilled over into real-life violence
A teenager who attacked another woman in the street was upset by “unpleasant” social media posts about her mother, a court was told.
Allesha Horne grabbed her victim by the hair and pulled her to the ground, following an exchange of words on the city’s Church Street.
Her victim was left with a swollen and bruised finger that required taping.
Dog owner let off by court after ‘troubled’ Staffie bites member of the public
A dog owner has been deemed not responsible and admonished after her “troubled” Staffie jumped a 10-foot fence and attacked a member of the public.
Candida Burnett, 47, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where she admitted allowing her Staffordshire-cross rescue dog, Winston, to escape when it vaulted over a garden fence in the Mastrick area of Aberdeen.
Winston also attacked two dogs, including sinking his teeth into the throat of a German Shepherd.
Dangerous disqualified Dingwall driver drove into oncoming traffic
A dangerous driver forced road users in Dingwall to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
Adrian Ratajewski drove at “excessive speed” and “in the face of oncoming traffic” in the town.
He was disqualified from driving and not insured to drive at the time of the incident.
Inverurie sex predator jailed after he was found hiding phone under garden shed
A north-east paedophile has been jailed after police caught him with a secret phone hidden under his garden shed.
Robert Strachan, 46, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted concealing the phone from police.
Officers found he had installed apps Grindr and Snapchat, in breach of a court order.
Strachan was jailed in 2021 after he used Grindr to seek out and groom victims as young as 11.
Aberdeen thug back behind bars after making more threats to murder ex
A domestic abuser who made repeated threats to kill his ex-girlfriend has been sent back to jail after once again flouting a court order to stay away from her.
Tyler Leisk – who was previously jailed for a similar course of conduct – had only been free from prison for four days when he began sending the abusive messages to his victim.
This was in breach of a non-harassment order that banned him from contacting her for five years.
The 25-year-old has now been jailed again – and the banning order has been doubled to 10 years.
Aberdeen woman shook baby that would not stop crying
An Aberdeen woman who shook a crying baby was ordered to carry out 300 hours unpaid work under a community payback order today.
A judge told Hanna Oleszkiewicz that in all the circumstances of her case, she was persuaded that a community-based disposal rather than a jail sentence was appropriate.
Lady Hood said she took into account that she did not intend to cause harm to the child, co-operated with the authorities and has shown remorse.
Jail for paedophile who described underwear-clad child as ‘young and fresh’
A Nairn paedophile who shared an image of a child in their underwear and described her as “young and fresh” is now behind bars.
Francis Ward was snared after he made the comment to an undercover police officer on a messaging app that he used to share sick images and videos with other paedophiles.
A court heard a search of his home recovered hundreds of indecent images of children – some younger than school age.