Ease into a new week with another slice of true crime from Tayside and Fife.
Embezzlement claim
The co-chairperson of a school’s parent council has been accused of embezzling £2,402.81 from its funds.
Amanda Donnelly, 41, has been accused of helping herself to the cash from the parent council board at Victoria Park Primary School.
The money was allegedly taken from the board of the Dundee school on a number of occasions between March 15, 2019, and June 21, last year.
Donnelly, of Leith Gardens, Dundee, did not appear when the case called at Dundee Sheriff Court and it was continued without plea.
Wild camper’s misjudgement
A wild camper has been banned from the road after an “error of judgement”.
Mark Weir was nearly twice the legal drink-drive limit when he was pulled over by police on the A827 at Kenmore.
The 28-year-old, from Airdrie, had been wild camping in Highland Perthshire at the time.
His solicitor told Perth Sheriff Court: “The night previously he was drinking a fair amount.
“The following day, he was adamant that the effects of the alcohol had worn off.
“They evidently had not.”
She said her client, a former plasterer, was “highly remorseful and embarrassed.”
Weir admitted a single charge of driving with 40 mics of alchol in 100 ml of blood on April 24, 2021. The legal limit is 22 mics.
Sheriff Euan Duthie told Weir: “This was an error of judgement, but one that carries a mandatory one-year driving disqualification.”
Weir, of Bankhead Place, Craigneuk, was also fined £500.
The sheriff added: “You are very young to be making these sorts of mistakes and I do hope that this was just a one-off.
“If you return to court, you will face a more severe penalty.”
Ice hockey star fined for jaw-breaker
An ice hockey star who broke a man’s jaw during a team night out has been ordered to pay £3,200 compensation to his victim.
A court was told former Dundee Stars player Lukas Nielsen would need to get his parents to pay the money initially, until his new club starts to pay his wages.
Sheriff Alistair Carmichael told Nielsen that he wanted to impose an unpaid worker order but couldn’t because it was “too complicated” after Brexit.
Teenage biker claim
A teenager denies allegations he drove a motorcycle dangerously in a Perthshire town.
The 17-year-old is accused of riding at excessive speeds on Beeches Road, Blairgowrie, on August 26, 2020.
It is alleged he repeatedly weaved across the carriageway, which was busy with traffic at the time.
The teen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is further accused of failing to keep the bike under control, travel onto the opposing lane and into the path of oncoming vehicles.
Prosecutors further claim he was riding with no valid licence, nor insurance.
The teenager was due to stand trial at Perth Sheriff Court on Monday.
But the case was adjourned until June 28 after a case of coronavirus in the teenager’s household.
Chip shop creep
A Fife chip shop worker took “intimate” photographs of two women without their consent and posted one on a pornography website.
Burntisland man Michael Foy was found guilty after trial of posting images of a woman to an X-rated website
He told a court one of his victims was the guilty party.
Foy admitted he had taken a photo of one of the women without her consent as she slept but claimed he had sent it to the other complainer.
He said the other woman had then posted the photo, along with photos and videos of herself, on porn website XHamster, under the username BigFoy.
After two and a half hours deliberating, jurors returned guilty verdicts to three of four charges faced by the 40-year-old.
‘We are so sorry’ – German driver avoids jail after fatal smash near Perthshire loch
The full caseload of the Dundee Crime and Courts Team can be found here.
