A gangland hitman has been caught with an illicit phone in prison for the 15th time.
James Bain is serving a life sentence for the shooting of former Scottish boxing champ Alexander McKinnon at Edinburgh’s Marmion Bar in 2006.
The 39-year-old appeared via videolink at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted having another unauthorised phone at the city’s jail on March 25 last year.
He pled guilty to an almost identical offence at the same court just six weeks ago.
Fiscal depute Elizabeth Hodgson said the latest phone was found under his bed.
Bain’s solicitor said the phone was purely for contacting family members.
He said: “There was no SIM card inside but nevertheless, he should not have had it.”
Sheriff Mark O’Hanlon sentenced Bain to nine months alongside his current jail time.
House sale scam
A fraudster forged his ex-wife’s signature and illicitly sold their marital home to an unsuspecting Fife doctor, who has ended up nearly £100,000 out of pocket.
Crook Donald Booth was convicted by a jury last week of forging Nicola Booth’s signature on a separation agreement and a deed purporting to transfer to him sole title to the Dunfermline property.
He went on to sell the house to Dr Babar Akbar in late 2016, swindling his ex-wife out of £123,000 in the process.
A sheriff later reinstated Mrs Booth as a co-owner of the property, leaving Dr Akbar jointly owning his own home with a complete stranger.
Red diesel ‘revenge’ theft
Anthony Carr, 36, of West High Street, Buckhaven, stole hundreds of pounds of red diesel from his former employer, Laws crop nutrition, in “revenge” at being let go.
He broke into the Methil business after hours on September 11 2021 and staff noticed three days later 500 litres of diesel, worth £360, had been taken from the locked storage area.
Solicitor David Bell, defending, said Carr, who is originally from Liverpool, had previous issues with offending.
Following a four-year sentence imposed at Aberdeen for supplying drugs.
He was later taken on by the Methil firm but his employment had ended prior to the theft.
He said: “His employment did not end well.
“He was dismissed with no reason and was owed money.
“He was keeping bad company and decided this was the best method of revenge.”
Carr was ordered to pay £360 in compensation to the firm.
Church charity crook
A callous thief forced his way into a Highland Perthshire church and made off with cash from four charity boxes. Steven Lockhart, 48, was confronted by a member of the congregation after breaking into the St Brides Roman Catholic building in Pitlochry.
Mule jailed
A drug mule caught by Fife police transporting cocaine worth more than £80,000 has been jailed.
Stefan Milne‘s car was stopped as he crossed Clackmannanshire Bridge and he was found to be carrying a block of high purity cocaine inside a JD sports bag.
Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard previously the 39-year-old had been paid £1,500 to collect the package from England.
The block was found to contain 489.7g of the class A drug, with a purity of 62%. The normal street purity is around 30%.
Experts estimate the drugs would be worth up to £58,680 if divided into street deals, or as much as £80,800 if reduced to normal street purity.
Milne, of Branshill, Sauchie, was also found to have a 3.66g wrap of the drug, worth £250, and almost £600 in cash.
He appeared for sentencing having previously admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine on the A876 Clackmannanshire Bridge on January 31 and February 1 last year.
Sheriff Susan Duff jailed him for 16 months.
Clean up your act
Hapless football stadium raider Brian Stewart pilfered washing up liquid from Montrose FC’s ground. The 38-year-old caused around £1,000 of damage during his bungled break-in.
Happy New Year
A Perth man woke his dad on New Year’s Day by punching him in the face.
John Christie was left with a cut to the head and a swollen-shut eye following the attack at his home in the city’s Cedar Drive.
A neighbour saw Mr Christie outside the house in his underwear moments later, shouting: “It’s my son. He’s gone mad.”
Ewen Christie, 31, at Perth Sheriff Court admitted the January 1 2022 assault.
The incident was described by a sheriff as a “cowardly attack”.
The court heard the attack had been retaliation for the older man trying to push his son down the stairs.
Christie, of Fechney Park, Perth, was ordered to carry out 100 hours unpaid work in the next 12 months.
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