An Angus man has admitted stealing an arsenal of firearms from a county property.
Shaun Conway admitted taking guns and ammunition from an address in St Malcolms Wynd, Kirriemuir, on May 31.
The 22-year-old stole a Browning semi-automatic .22 rifle, a BRNO bolt-action .22 rifle and an Anschutz .17HMR rifle.
Conway also made off with three scopes and three silencers.
In total, his ammunition haul from the property was 400 .17 rounds and nine magazines.
Conway, of Prosen Road, Kirriemuir, is also accused of stealing a galvanised box, three gun cases, a shotgun licence and a firearms licence.
He pled guilty to a further charge of having the firearms and ammunition without a certificate.
Conway also admitted being in possession of cocaine.
He had previously denied the offences but pled guilty at a hearing at Forfar Sheriff Court.
Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown deferred sentencing until October 27 for reports.
Killer’s scissors threat
Angus killer Ross Anderson has been given another prison sentence after threatening prison officers with scissors during a hospital visit. Anderson, 31, is serving a sentence at HMP Addiewell for culpable homicide after stabbing a friend to death in Montrose in 2008.
‘Improbable’ prison SIM defence
An abusive thug jailed for brutally assaulting his ex-girlfriend was caught using an illegal SIM card behind bars.
John Rowlands admitted having the contraband device at HMP Perth in August 2020, weeks after he was locked up for nearly two years.
Perth Sheriff Court heard the card was found during a routine search of Rowland’s cell.
Fiscal depute Andrew Harding said: “The accused handed over his prison-issued mobile phone.
“On inspection, there was a breach in its security seal and the SIM was found inside.”
The court heard Rowlands had “panicked” during lockdown and used the card to stay in touch with his family.
The father-of-three said that he found the SIM card lying around and decided to take it.
Sheriff Alistair Carmichael told the 34-year-old: “I find your explanation of how you came to have this SIM card improbable and I’m not convinced about your reasons for using it.”
Unemployed Rowlands, of Callender Gardens, Dundee, was ordered to pay £300.
In June 2020, Dundee Sheriff Court heard how controlling Rowlands attacked his partner and threatened to kill her during months of abuse.
He said he would burn the woman’s house down in a series of abusive messages and smashed one of her windows.
Rowlands attacked her at a GP surgery by seizing her neck and pinning her from behind.
He was jailed for 23 months and ordered to stay away from the woman for three years.
Thug behind bars
Fife man Ricky Smith, 54, who terrorised a woman for almost a decade and twice put her life in danger by choking her is behind bars. He will be sentenced after the preparation of reports.
Admonished for historic attack
A Fife mother has been admonished after assaulting her former partner almost a decade ago, following a trial at Dundee Sheriff Court.
Tayport decorator Andrew Innes previously told a court his former girlfriend hit him over the head with a shoe.
Samantha McQueen White, 27, assaulted ex-partner Mr Innes, 36, at his home on Jubilee Buildings in November 2013.
McQueen-White, who was 19 at the time of the offence, also smashed a television with a telephone.
Mr Innes told the court the assault lasted around 25 minutes.
He reported the incident to police in April 2021, nearly seven years later.
It followed a small claims court case which ruled in McQueen-White’s favour following a dispute over non-payment of a family holiday to Florida in 2019.
McQueen-White, of Dunedin Park, Balmullo, admitted the charges .
She was admonished by Sheriff David Hall, meaning she has a criminal conviction but no further punishment was handed out.
Drink-drive crash
A banned driver got drunk and crashed a works van into a garden. Liam Thornber was more than three times the limit when he caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage to property in Crieff’s Kincardine Road.
Pub police assault
Craig Duncan, 32, of of Park Cottages, Hillside, near Montrose admitted acting threateningly and assaulting a police officer in a pub.
Duncan had been in the Black Abbot on Coronation Way on June 24 and refused to leave when he was asked to do so multiple times.
He claimed he was in possession of a knife and began to lash out with his arms, striking windows and a door with his hand.
When police attended, Duncan assaulted PC Greg Soutar, by kicking him on the body.
Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown ordered a social work report and deferred sentencing until October 27.
