A former Perth prisoner who was caught behind bars with a weaponized toothbrush has been spared a return trip to jail.
Michael Ednie appeared at the city’s sheriff court and admitting having a toothbrush with a razor attached while he was on remand at HMP Perth in March 2021.
The 33-year-old, of High Street, Leslie, crafted the tool after becoming paranoid from taking psychoactive substances, his lawyer said.
He planned to show it to the authorities to get himself moved, the court heard.
Ednie was later that month jailed for more than two-and-a-half years for a violent clash with a neighbour involving an axe and a knife.
Sheriff David Hall said he was unimpressed that Ednie appeared to have lied to social workers preparing background reports.
He told him: “This is a serious matter and you have a lengthy criminal record.
“But I am satisfied there is an alternative to a custodial sentence.”
Leslie was ordered to stay home for nine months as part of a Restriction of Liberty Order.
Knife threat
A man who picked up a knife during a drunken argument with his partner in Perth is behind bars.
Remand prisoner David Swankie was brought from HMP Perth to Forfar Sheriff Court where he admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at a flat in Kinnoull Street last February.
Fiscal depute Charmaine Gilmartin explained that Swankie had been at his on-off partner’s flat and had been consuming alcohol on February 22 2022.
She said the couple began arguing and Swankie started to shout, swear and act aggressively towards her.
After being asked to leave, Swankie collected a knife from the kitchen.
“That knife was not brandished to her,” Ms Gilmartin said. “He simply had it.”
Swankie left to damage some clothing and again refused to leave.
The woman went to seek refuge at a neighbour’s and Swankie followed her.
When she returned home, Swankie, 28, began kicking her front door.
The woman told emergency service call handlers he was kicking it “in half.”
Swankie was later released from court on bail with a curfew and special conditions not to approach the woman.
But when neighbours saw him banging on the door of her new home after his curfew on September 6, he found himself remanded.
Swankie admitted breaching bail and acting in a manner likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm.
Solicitor Nick Whelan said: “He’d been abusing alcohol significantly.”
Sheriff Paul Brown deferred sentencing for reports until August 28.
Swankie, who will remain remanded, will also be sentenced that day for vandalising his mother’s TV when she said he couldn’t stay, and assaulting another resident when he was residing at homeless accommodation in Arbroath.
Men’s rights activist jailed for rape
A children’s mental health counsellor who landed a job with an Angus school after appearing in court accused of multiple serious sex offences has been sentenced to more than three years in prison.
Morgan Prior was convicted of raping one woman and a serious sexual assault on another following a trial at Dundee High Court.
The 33-year-old – a self-proclaimed “men’s right activist” – had previously appeared in a BBC documentary where he boasted of his polyamorous lifestyle with multiple girlfriends.
Outraged parents contacted The Courier after we revealed Prior had been employed by mental health charity Place2Be, and worked with children in Arbroath — months after his first court appearance — where he faced a number of sexual assault and rape charges, including sexual assault against a 16-year-old.
The self-proclaimed “men’s rights activist” was cleared of allegations involving the teenager, but was guilty of rape and sexual assault.
Joiner caught with child abuse files
A Perthshire joiner was caught with a hidden haul of obscene child abuse images featuring victims as young as two years old.
Police swooped on Christopher Blair’s home in Errol following an anonymous tip-off.
They uncovered dozens of illicit files on his iPhone and iPad – more than half were described by prosecutors as being at the most obscene level.
Blair, 31, appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted possessing and taking or permitting indecent photos of children between January 23 2017 and November 24 2021.
He was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and will be sentenced next month.
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Your starter for 10
A University Challenge contestant who preyed on young girls has been jailed for 16 months and branded a “nasty, perverted little spider” by a sheriff.
Andrew Newton sent indecent messages to girls as young as 12 and attempted to persuade them to meet him for sex, Inverness Sheriff Court was told.
The 30-year-old – who represented St Andrews University when he appeared on the long-running BBC quiz show in 2012 – was also found to have accessed indecent images of children.
Newton, 30, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court for sentencing having been found guilty of four charges by a jury earlier this year.
Andrew Newton preyed on young girls. Image: FacebookThe former maths student was convicted of describing sexual acts to a 12-year-old girl and attempting to induce her to meet him for sexual intercourse, as well as sending her an image of a penis.
Jurors also found him guilty of describing sexual acts and making indecent comments to two other girls, both as young as 14. He asked one of them to send indecent images and tried to convince her to meet him for sexual intercourse.
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