Two people from Buckhaven have admitted extorting hundreds of pounds out of a Fife man.
Drew Clark and Kelly Collins appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to admit extorting the man, whose identity is protected by an anonymity order.
Over almost three weeks in December 2020, 28-year-old Clark extorted the man for cash by making telephone calls and sending him messages.
Clark pretended he would delete naked photographs of the man in exchange for payments of money.
He also threatened to disclose the man’s personal details, as well as to attending his home address.
35-year-old Collins admitted doing the same to the man – but from July until December.
Clark was able to extort £600 from the man and Collins took £1,550 from him.
Fiscal depute Claire Bremner said: “On the face of it, this is a fairly straightforward and rather unpleasant extortion.”
Collins was released on bail but Clark was remanded in custody by Sheriff Alastair Brown.
Both, of Victoria Road in Buckhaven, will be sentenced on June 6.
Double dangerous driver
Dangerous driver Jack Ferguson injured friends when he flipped his car on the outskirts of Perth. It was one of a pair of offences the 21-year-old admitted at Perth Sheriff Court.
Pub pill pain
A Dundee man caught with almost £500 of street Valium claimed he had bought the tablets after struggling to get a GP appointment.
Kenneth Shannon, 58, admitted having the controlled, class C drug etizolam following a police raid at an address in Forfar’s Queen Street in March last year.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard Shannon had injured himself during lockdown, making it difficult for him to work.
He had gone to a pub and was offered tablets for the pain, after complaining about being unable to get a GP appointment.
The court heard he was caught in possession of 483 tablets, worth £1 per pill.
Defence solicitor Anika Jethwa, in mitigation for Shannon, said: “He paid less than that for them, as he bought them in bulk.
“He injured his arm in lockdown. He mentioned this in a bar where he was given a few tablets, which helped.
“He told them he had been having getting a GP appointment and that he would buy these tablets.
“He admitted at the earliest opportunity the tablets were his.”
He was fined £210 by Sheriff Paul Brown.
Co-accused, Douglas Byres, pled not guilty to the charge, which was accepted by the Crown.
Break-in bench bam
Fed-up bosses at a beleaguered Perth restaurant joked about installing “armed security” after would-be thief Richard Jordan tried to smash his way in using a bench. Watch CCTV of the attempt here.
Playpark rant
A Bridge of Earn man who shouted vile abuse at children at a local playpark has been placed on curfew.
Duncan McPhee was warned earlier this year he could be sent back to jail for his rant at the Balmanno recreational park.
He called youngsters “mongos” and “a bunch of retards” and told one boy: “Your dad’s a f***ing w***er.”
McPhee, who was previously jailed for defrauding two pensioners over shoddy roof repairs, appeared at Perth Sheriff Court, having previously admitted behaving in a threatening manner, likely to cause, fear or alarm on July 1, last year.
The 35-year-old, of Smillie Place, also admitted assaulting a woman at a birthday party.
At the last hearing in February, a sheriff told McPhee tod “get his affairs in order” because a prison sentence was “a very real possibility.”
Sheriff Craig McSherry instead opted to place McPhee on a restriction of liberty order as a direct alternative to jail.
McPhee must stay home between 7pm and 7am for 10 months.
Solicitor Billy Somerville told the court his client had taken too much alcohol when he visited the park.
Three-hour attack
Fife man’s Samuel McCluskey’s three-hour attack left a friend needing a titanium plate in his jaw. Barefooted McCluskey was eventually caught during a rampage when he slipped on grass while chasing a dogwalker after threatening to steal her pet.
Sniffer dog
A Fife woman who was trying to smuggle hundreds of pounds worth of cannabis resin onto HMP Perth was foiled by sniffer dogs.
Charmaine Knowles appeared At Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to admit being concerned in the supply of the Class B drug.
The 21-year-old, of Lawson Street in Kirkcaldy, attempted to enter the Edinburgh Road jail on April 30 last year with £255 of illicit resin.
She made her way beyond the barrier at reception, into the sterile area, when sniffer dogs signalled she should be searched.
Sheriff Francis Gill deferred sentence until August 24.
Man accused of killing businessman with shotgun on Perthshire estate
The full caseload of the Dundee Crime and Courts Team can be found here.
