A court has had to defer sentence on an Auchterarder man who assaulted a police officer – after he was attacked by a dog.
Jordan McDonald was due to return to the dock for sentencing, having earlier admitted pushing PC Cameron Phin during an altercation in Perth’s Dunkeld Road on September 20 last year.
But the 40-year-old’s solicitor explained he could not attend at Perth Sheriff Court as he was at home recovering from a dog attack.
McDonald, she said, will require surgery at Ninewells.
He was attacked in Eagle Avenue, his home street, just before 7pm on February 23.
The dog had to be destroyed after police officers in protective clothing removed it from the house, the court heard.
Sheriff Alison McKay deferred sentence for two weeks, saying: “I will require medical vouching but I don’t think that should be difficult to get.”
PC’s death fears
A terrified police officer feared he was going to die as his leg was crushed against a parked car by a disqualified van driver in Dundee. The officer’s colleague begged Adam McMillan to stop the van but he reversed over PC Lee Logie’s leg.
Tasered thug
A thug who was tasered after throwing rocks at police and trying to bite them has been hit with an extended six-year jail term.
Steven Dunn‘s violent rampage took place in the early hours of the morning in Arbroath last summer.
A sheriff said Dunn’s crimes were so serious he narrowly avoided being sent to the High Court for sentencing.
The Courier previously told how police had been called to Culloden Road just after midnight on June 22 last year.
Dunn, 47, ran away but returned a short time later clutching a rock.
“He ran towards the officer shouting ‘I’ll kill you’ prompting the officer to require urgent assistance,” fiscal depute Lee Corr told Dundee Sheriff Court.
“The accused threw a rock, narrowly missing the officer’s head.”
Dunn then threw another brick, striking an officer on the back.
He was tasered on the leg and fell onto the road.
As officers applied a spit hood, he attempted to bite one on the hand while shouting: “I’ll bite your f****** nose off.”
At Dundee Sheriff Court, he admitted assault and acting in a threatening or abusive manner.
Defence solicitor Keith Sym said Dunn had “long-standing” mental health issues and accepted there was no alternative to custody.
Sheriff Paul Brown said: “These are serious offences against a concerning background of offending, including analogous offending.
“There’s no appropriate alternative to a custodial sentence.
“Had you not pled guilty, I would have remitted this to the High Court where you would have received six years in prison.”
Dunn was ordered to serve four years in prison with a two-year extended sentence to be served in the community – meaning any further breach in that time would see him returned to prison.
Breakfast pack attack
A Lochgelly man injured a police officer when he hurled a sausage and haggis breakfast pack at him. On another occasion David St John, 46, threatened to burn down a local dental practice after missing an appointment for toothache.
Off-road to dodge police
A teenager illegally driving a 125cc motorcycle through Buckhaven abandoned the bike after taking it off-road in a bid to dodge police.
At Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court Jay Penny admitted to driving the motorcycle dangerously by failing to maintain proper control, riding at excessive speeds excessive, mounting a footpath and then driving on it.
The 19-year-old, of West High Street in Buckhaven also admitted failing to stop for police and driving without a licence or insurance on April 13 last year.
He had been spotted by police on the A955 and ignored their signals to stop, riding along Methilhaven Road in Buckhaven and onto Forthview.
He continued at speed through a 20mph limit and lost police by leaving the road.
Police searched the area and found the jettisoned bike and were able to identify Penny as the rider.
Unemployed Penny was fined £70, plus a £10 victim surcharge, and banned for a year.
He must then sit the extended driving test to gain a licence.
Single punch tragedy
A Kirriemuir man whose single punch left a man paralysed and in a wheelchair for life has been jailed for more than two years. Steven McIntosh previously admitted the life-endangering assault and returned to the dock at Forfar Sheriff Court to be told he had caused the “highest level” of harm despite it being unintended.
Offered payment for sex
A 19-year-old has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register for a year for offering payment to a teenage girl for sex.
Davi Moura previously pleaded guilty to communicating indecently with the 17-year-old at Queensferry Road, Rosyth, on February 16 last year when he was 18.
First offender Moura, of Parkgate, Rosyth, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court for sentencing.
Defence lawyer Stephen Morrison said Moura is immature for his age, has ADHD resulting in impulsive decision making and actions and appeared “deeply ashamed”.
The solicitor said when Moura was rejected, he quickly moved away from the precise location and realised what he had done was wrong.
He was placed on a community payback order comprising one year of offender supervision and a requirement to participate in the Maps for Change programme to educate male sex offenders.
Post-op blunder
A pensioner drove the wrong way down the A9 and into the path of a police van after undergoing eye surgery, a court has heard. John MacAskill, 73, blundered into the wrong carriageway at the “confusing” Blackford junction. Southbound drivers were forced to swerve out of his way to avoid a pile-up.
Raped three women
A sex predator who raped a woman while she was suffering a debilitating migraine attack was told custody is “inevitable” when he returns to court for sentencing.
James Lowe, 39, denied a series of charges during trial at the High Court in Edinburgh but was found guilty of raping three women and sexually assaulting one of them.
He attacked his first victim in 2012 at an address in Kirkcaldy as she was suffering a migraine attack.
She told the court|; “I held his hand and pushed it away. I told him ‘no’, my head was sore.”
The woman said she could not lift her head off the pillow, but repeatedly told him ‘no’.
Lowe raped her and she later sent him a text saying she felt as if she was forced to have sex and said: “I remember him saying he was sorry.”
He went on to rape a second woman on an occasion in October 2019 while she was sleeping victim at a house in Methil, continuing the attack after she woke.
A third woman was raped in 2020 at an address in Buckhaven, again while she was asleep.
He also sexually assaulted her.
Following the verdicts the court heard Lowe has previous convictions for assault and threatening or abusive behaviour, but not for sexual offences.
He was remanded in custody for the preparation of a background report ahead of sentencing next month and was placed on the Sex Offenders Register.
Judge Alison Stilring told jurors: “Custody is inevitable in this case.”
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