A wee warning before the weekend’s revelries.
Drink-driver one
A 21-year-old Fife drunk-driver crashed into two parked cars while nearly four times above the legal limit.
Mark Dewar was fined £500 and banned from the road for 20 months when he appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to admit the offence, which took place in Selkirk Crescent, Markinch, late on January 29.
The court heard Dewar, of Queens Crescent in Markinch, had only passed his driving test last year.
Procurator fiscal depute Xander van der Scheer said witnesses heard a “loud bang” and saw Dewar climbing out of the driver’s side of the vehicle, which had collided with two parked vehicles.
Sheriff James Williamson described as “outrageous” the level of alcohol consumed – 85mics/100, nearly four times the legal level of 22 mics.
He told Dewar: “This is frankly disgraceful behaviour on your part.”
Defence lawyer Graham Inch said his client had previously been at a family gathering and had a lot to drink.
Fake identity binned
A recycling supremo who faked his identity to help take up a £150,000 a year job with Lidl was rumbled when he was clocked speeding at 100 miles per hour in Perthshire. Andrzej Bagienski from Monifieth gave the game away when police spotted his real licence while he searched for the fake one in his wallet.
Drink-driver two
A 22-year-old driver, Nicholas Benedetti, was banned from the road for a year and fined £300 after he drove above the legal alcohol limit over a roundabout and crashed in Western Avenue, Glenrothes.
Benedetti, of Milnwood Court in Glenrothes, pled guilty to the charge when he appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.
He recorded a breath in alcohol reading of 39mics/100.
Abuser prison warning
Serial domestic abuser Craig Milne, who hit one of his victims in the eye with a banana, was been told to expect a jail sentence after a campaign of abuse against four former partners over a 13-year period in which he poked, punched, slapped, degraded and threatened them.
Drink-driver three
Przemyslaw Hajduk, 40, of Laurel Crescent in Kirkcaldy, was fined £300 and banned for a year after admitting drink driving in Kirkcaldy’s Townsend Crescent on January 15.
His breath in alcohol reading was 35/100ml.
Pink iPhone
A violent Perth prisoner has had his jail term extended after being caught with a phone in his cell.
Nathan Murray admitted possessing the device on August 10.
Fiscal depute David Currie explained prison officers conducted a “targeted” search on the 31-year-old’s cell.
They found him to be in possession of a pink iPhone.
His solicitor said the first-time prisoner had been using the phone to contact his mother and two children.
She said: “Mr Murray tells me at the time of this offence, the prison was not allowing any visitors due to coronavirus.
“He didn’t realise how serious it is.
“He is genuinely really sorry for his actions.”
Murray was due to be liberated on December 6 at the earliest, having been convicted of a violent assault at High Court level.
Sheriff Gillian Wade added a further four month sentence to run at the end of Murray’s current spell in custody.
The sheriff pointed out that phones with limited credit were made available to prisoners over lockdown.
She told him: “You have been a serving prisoner for quite some time.
“You know what the rules are.”
The full caseload of the Dundee Crime and Courts Team can be found here.
