A pair of Fife police officers accused of lying about it in court have been cleared of all charges.
Constables Steven Harker and Gordon Butchart were accused of assaulting Michael Wallace at his Dunfermline home before committing perjury at his trial in Dunfermline between November 2018 and June 2019.
The Crown decided it was no longer seeking a prosecution in the long-running case after witnesses failed to appear, amid confusion over whether they had been cited.
Evidence submitted at an earlier date by Sheriff James MacDonald was also ruled “inadmissible” by Sheriff Ian Duguid
Sheriff Duguid said Sheriff MacDonald had gone “far beyond” in his questioning in the initial case.
Harker and Butchart looked relieved as the left the dock on Wednesday morning, following a near-four-year ordeal.
Harker, 36, and Butchart, 31, whose addresses are listed as Police Scotland’s Professional Standards Department in Glasgow, were cleared of assault and committing perjury over the course of a trial in Dunfermline in 2019.
Mr Wallace had been charged with assaulting the two officers and resisting arrest but was later acquitted.
Covid stalking trial
A door-to-door Covid-19 tester has been cleared of stalking one of his clients. Eric Hepburn, 62, from Perth, was part of a group who swabbed households during the pandemic as part of a government-run study. He went on trial at Perth Sheriff Court accused of engaging in a course of conduct that left a 50-year-old Blairgowrie woman in a state of fear or alarm.
Restaurant embezzlement charge
A manager at a Glasgow city centre bar is accused of embezzling more than £26,000 from it.
James Killen, 36, allegedly stole the cash from Lebowski’s in Glasgow between October 20 and 30 2018.
Court papers state Killen, of Auchterarder, was employed as the general manager at the time.
The total amount he is said to have taken is £26,187.29.
Killen pled not guilty to the single charge at Glasgow Sheriff Court.
A further hearing has been fixed for next month by Sheriff Tom Hughes.
Killen’s bail was continued meantime.
Illegal kiss
A senior staff member at a store in Highland Perthshire was sacked after he grabbed a woman and kissed her without consent. John Dobbie, 44, was charged with sexual assault following the incident at the Mountain Warehouse branch in Pitlochry but pled guilty to a reduced charge of assault, with no sexual element.
Ibrox foam accusation
A Dunfermline man is one of a trio accused of filling shutter doors of Ibrox Stadium with expanding foam on the day of an Old Firm derby.
Ryan Cross, 19, of Dunfermline, Steven Breslin, 24, of Linwood, and Michael McKay, 23, of Johnstone denied the charge of malicious mischief at Glasgow Sheriff Court.
The alleged offence is said to have taken place on April 3 2022.
Celtic later that day went on to beat their Glasgow rivals Rangers 1-2.
Court papers state the three men “maliciously damaged several shutter doors by spraying expanding foam on them.”
They were due to stand trial but there was a defence motion to adjourn and a new trial date was set by Sheriff Iain Nicol in January 2023.
Their bail was continued meantime.
