Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Friday court round-up — Badger blocking and lead thefts

Court round-up graphic

The weekend starts here.

Badger block charge

A Fife farmer is facing allegations he breached wildlife regulations by using an excavator to block the entrance to a badger sett.

Peter Brown, of Skeddoway Farm near Strathore, is accused of interfering with a badger sett at Ingrie Farm, near Glenrothes, on April 4.

Badgers

It is alleged that, without permission, Brown scraped and levelled a spoil entrance to the sett with an excavator and damaged it with a boulder.

The 31-year-old is also accused of obstructing access to the sett by placing a boulder at the entrance, allegedly acting with intention or reckless disregard.

Brown made no plea and will appear at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on September 2.

Dog neglect

A dog owner who tried to block an Scottish SPCA inspector from his house after a report his pet as being neglected, has been banned from keeping animals for a year. 31-year-old Ryan Stewart appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on charges of failing to adequately care for his Staffie-cross, Sky.

Ryan Stewart

Drug deal in front of baby

A Perth drug dealer was caught handing out diazepam packages in Fife from a car with a baby in it has been jailed.

Sheriff Richard MacFarlane locked up Jordan Painter for six months at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.

Painter, of Campsie Road, admitted he had been concerned in the supply of the class-C drug on June 18, 2020.

Fiscal Depute Xander van set Scheer said two police officers in an unmarked vehicle saw a package being handed out of the car window on Hawkslaw Road in Leven.

Colleagues were contacted and the car was stopped.

Painter, 27, was found to have 104, 14-strip packs of Diazepam in the footwell, along with £660 in cash.

Lead thefts

Four people have been accused of stealing lead and tools from businesses in Dundee.

Alan Constable, 39, and Shane Aberdein, 33, appeared at the city’s sheriff court in connection with the allegations.

Warrants were issued for the arrest of a 26-year-old man and a boy aged 17.

It is alleged Aberdein, the 26-year-old man and the teenager stole lead sheeting from Waters Edge, Camperdown Street, between April 4 and 6.

All four allegedly stole tools from Edward Builders, Commercial Street, between May 8 and 10 after breaking into the premises.

Prosecutors allege they all stole lead sheeting from Waters Edge between May 10 and 11.

Constable, of Hindmarsh Avenue, and Aberdein, of Ann Street, made no plea when they appeared on petition.

Sheriff Gregor Murray continued the case for further examination and released the pair on bail.

Shopping centre racial breach claim

A teenager charged with carrying out a racist attack in the Wellgate will stand trial next year.

Michael Burns, 19, is also accused of assaulting two other men in the shopping centre on June 15.

It is alleged Burns, of Hilltown, stole cosmetics and food from Savers in the centre.

The Wellgate

Thereafter, Burns allegedly engaged in a racially aggravated course of conduct, which amounted to harassment, towards Daniel Asante by shouting racial comments.

Burns allegedly engaged in a struggle with Mr Asante before repeatedly punching him on the body.

Prosecutors say Burns walked towards Kevin Culley, acted in an aggressive manner and struggled with him.

Alistair Scott was also allegedly kicked on the head by Burns.

At Dundee Sheriff Court, Burns pled not guilty.

He was released on bail after a trial was fixed for April.

Jailed for 20 years

Stephen Head, 56, has been jailed for more than two decades for a catalogue of horrific abuse against three children in the 1980s and 1990s.

Head, formerly of Baird Crescent, Leven, appeared at Sheffield Crown Court and was sentenced to 20 years and 12 weeks in prison.

He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life and made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

He had admitted 26 charges of sexual offences involving children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in Doncaster in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Stephen Head has been jailed for more than 20 years.

Speaking after the sentencing, investigating officer Alexandra Storey, of South Yorkshire Police praised the abuse survivors for their part in bringing Head to justice.

She said: “All three of the victims in this case were incredibly brave to come forward and report the horrific abuse they suffered at the hands of Stephen Head.

“We hope that the significant custodial sentence handed down to Head will provide his victims with some comfort as they continue on their journey of recovery.

“I also hope this result will give other victims of historic sexual abuse the confidence to talk to us.”

In case you missed it…

Thursday round-up — Home invasion and children ban

Wednesday round-up — Brandished manicure scissors

Tuesday round-up — ‘Motionless’ and ‘comatose’

Monday round-up — Dog killer and benefits cheat