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Tuesday court round-up — Valium and cannabis

By Crime and Courts Team

October 12 2021, 7:30pm

The Tuesday court round-up.

Valium and cannabis

A Burntisland drug dealer has admitted hoarding thousands of pounds worth of drugs at his home.

David Grubb‘s home on Bendameer Road was raided by police on July 22, last year.

Officers arrived at the 62-year-old’s home in the evening to check the two-bedroom semi-detached property for illicit substances.

At Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on Tuesday, fiscal depute Ron Hay explained a Detective Constable and a PC arrived at the property at around 8.10pm.

Grubb was found within with his 20-year-old son.

He told them: “There are drugs in the kitchen.

“They’re all mine. Nothing to do with my son.”

He explained he took three ounces each of cannabis and Valium per day and there was both drugs on the premises.

In total, officers found 26,091 Etizolam tablets, with a total value of £5,000.

Officers also found more than half a kilogram of cannabis, worth around £7,000 – up to £11,200 if divided into smaller deals.

Grubb admitted being concerned in the supply of both substances.

Sheriff James Williamson deferred sentence for reports until November 9.

Fife rapist

An attacker who raped a sleeping teenager before carrying out another assault on a woman was jailed.

Andrew Brannan, 40, raped the 15 or 16-year-old girl at a house in Buckhaven, Fife, between May and July, 2003, after the victim had been drinking and fell asleep.

Brannan, of Burns Avenue, Buckhaven, struck again four years later when he assaulted and raped a woman, who was aged 21, at a house in Methil, when she was asleep and incapable of giving or withholding consent, between April 23 and May 31.

He had denied both the rape charges he faced during a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh but was found guilty by majority verdicts of the jury.

Defence solicitor advocate Iain Paterson acknowledged Brannan faced being sent to prison for “quite some time”.

The trial judge, Lord Braid, deferred sentence for the preparation of a background report.

He was remanded in custody and placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

Terror trial latest

The trial of Glenrothes terror accused Sam Imrie was told by a police witness how he used the Telegram app to post racist messages and videos of the town’s Islamic Centre, including one which apparently showed a fire being started outside the building. He also allegedly wrote that he wanted First Minister Nicola Sturgeon “to die” because of her party’s immigration policies.

Nicola Sturgeon was mentioned in Imrie's online chats, the court was told — Nicola Sturgeon was mentioned in Imrie’s online chats, the court was told

Missing tyre claim

A trial has been fixed for a man accused of drunkenly driving a car that was missing a tyre.

Christopher Parish was allegedly almost four times the legal limit when driving the “unsafe” vehicle on North Street, Dundee, on August 1.

It is alleged Parish, 32, drove dangerously by failing to keep control of the vehicle while a tyre was missing from the front offside wheel.

The front nearside tyre was allegedly not secured to the wheel.

Parish allegedly caused the front bumper to make contact with the carriageway before leaving the car with the engine running and while it was in gear.

He allegedly gave a reading of 86 mics of alcohol in 100 mils of breath, exceeding the limit of 22 mics.

Parish, of Napier Drive, is accused of driving without a valid licence or insurance.

Prosecutors also allege Sean Smart, of Larch Street, failed to provide police with his details during the same incident.

The 31-year-old is alleged to have behaved abusively towards police.

A 17-year-old, who cannot be named, allegedly struggled violently with police on the same date and street.

Parish and the teenager had pleas of not guilty tendered at Dundee Sheriff Court and will stand trial in July.

Smart’s case was continued without plea until later this month.

Sectarian rants

A sectarian thug from Perth has been jailed for crashing his car in Auchterarder and then lashing out and spitting at police, before making a weird threat to dig up one officer’s dead grandmother and rape her. Steven Gow, 26, later struggled with police again while singing sectarian songs and making racist comments.