Bail warning for father of tragic Newburgh teenager Ricky Brown
A bereaved Fife father has denied making threats to another man in Newburgh — as heightened emotions in the community continue to be monitored.
- Published in the Courier : 23.09.11
- Published online : 23.09.11 @ 02.15pm
Stuart Brown (42), of St Catherine's Court, Newburgh, denied brandishing a baton and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm in Newburgh High Street on August 25 when he appeared at Cupar Sheriff Court on Thursday.
Mr Brown's appearance comes after the death of his 18-year-old son Ricky, who was a passenger in a car being driven by Jamie Fleming, also from Newburgh, on the Friarton Bridge near Perth in March.
After the car crashed and overturned on the M90 slip road, Ricky was rushed to hospital but died from his injuries.
Appearing at Cupar, Mr Brown was released on bail after pleading not guilty, although the Crown asked Sheriff Charles Macnair if a bail condition not to approach James Crawford, who is understood to live in the village, could be imposed.
Sheriff Macnair, however, declined that request, pointing out that such a bail condition would be "extremely difficult" to enforce given the relatively small size of Newburgh.
But Sheriff Macnair warned Mr Brown: "That does not mean that you can do anything in relation to Mr Crawford. Stay away from him and behave yourself around him."
Mr Crawford's connection to Mr Brown was not divulged in court.
Police recently appealed for calm in the area after a number of disturbances were reported in the wake of 18-year-old Ricky's tragic death, with a number of arrests also understood to have been made.
Chief Inspector John McDonald, from Fife Police, said: "We have been very busy monitoring and dealing with community tensions and associated crimes falling out of this current dispute, and we urge everyone to calm down and not to make a bad situation worse.
"We will robustly investigate and arrest anyone who breaks the law and urge the whole community to be more tolerant and also to assist themselves and the police."
More than 100 people recently attended a community engagement meeting in Newburgh earlier this month, when the issue is also understood to have been raised.
