A motorcyclist was fined £300 after being caught speeding in the middle of a busy Dundee road while traffic was coming towards him.
Kieron Edwards admitted carelessly driving the bike on the A92 Arbroath Road between Kemnay Gardens and Ruthven Road on May 29 last year.
Dashcam footage picked up Edwards, 26, of Dens Road, racing past other vehicles into the path of other vehicles on approach to a pedestrian crossing.
Solicitor Scott Norrie told Dundee Sheriff Court his client, who also had six points imposed on his licence, “was driving to clear his head as he was struggling with anxiety and depression at the time.”
Rambo knife robber
A Fife robber flashed a “Rambo” knife at two prospective cannabis customers and robbed them of jewellery and Nike shoes. Charles McKeeman, 28, lured his victims out late at night in a car in the belief they were going to buy drugs from him.
Potentially deadly pillow attack
A man who covered his partner’s face with pillows in a life-endangering attack at a Perth hotel has been jailed for more 27 months.
John McCann, 69, was previously convicted by a jury of the domestically-aggravated assault in a room at the Holiday Inn Express, Dunkeld Road, on August 27 2021.
The former coal miner was found guilty by a jury of repeatedly covering the woman’s face with pillows and restricting her breathing to the danger of her life.
He appeared for sentencing at Stirling Sheriff Court via video link to prison.
Defence lawyer James Cassels said both McCann and his then-partner were drinking and “things got out of hand”.
The solicitor said his client, of Leckethill Court, Cumbernauld, had been “in a bit of trouble in the past but not for the last 13 years”.
Sheriff Keith O’Mahony said: “The jury determined he (McCann) was guilty of assault by repeatedly covering the face of the complainer with pillows and repeatedly restricting her breathing to the danger of life, with a domestic aggravation.
“In the circumstances there is no alternative but custody”.
The sheriff also granted a three-year non-harassment order.
Perverted taxman
Former Inland Revenue worker Ian Dunbar, 69, from Fife, was caught with a sick stash of child abuse material, including children having sex with animals. The court heard he met like-minded perverts on Twitter and chatted and shared material on another app.
Pedestrian injured
A Dundee woman has admitted “seriously” injuring a pedestrian she reversed into at speed in Blairgowrie.
Bozena Kopaczka was not present at Perth Sheriff Court when her case called but the 69-year-old wrote in to plead guilty to causing serious injury by driving carelessly.
Kopaczka, of City Road in Dundee, admitted she was behind the wheel at Allan Street on October 6 last year when she reversed at speed and mounted a pavement, before colliding with a parked vehicle.
Then, she collided with pedestrians Rozanna and Ian Rouse, knocking both of them to the ground and leaving the former nursing “serious” injuries.
Kopaczka then also collided with a commercial premises in the street.
Sheriff Paul Brown deferred sentencing on the first offender until April 17, when he ordered her to be personally present and called for a social work report and restriction of liberty order assessment.
Deportation probe
A brazen thief could be deported after being locked up for targeting student flats in Dundee. Mariusz Domzalski made off with more than £1,600 worth of goods including rings, a games console and a set of clippers.
No laughing matter
A Blairgowrie lout took a metal pole to the parents of a teenager who laughed at him falling off his bike while intoxicated.
At Dunfermline Sheriff Court, James McGhie, 27, admitted twice acting in a threatening or abusive manner and possessing a Stanley knife.
Fiscal depute Douglas Thomson explained McGhie, of Park Drive, has been diagnosed with ADHD, OCD, autism and Tourette’s, which he has accepted exacerbating by using drink and drugs.
In the days leading to July 12 2021, he was high on cocaine, MDMA and amphetamines and had drunk copious amounts of spirits.
At 5pm, neighbours could hear him ranting and intoxicated and teenagers saw him drunkenly fall from his bike that evening.
Later, McGhie, armed with a metal pole, banged on the door of one of the teenager’s and rattled the letterbox.
The youngster’s parents came to the door and McGhie shouted “I’ll kill him”.
One of the parents disarmed McGhie, who fled.
When he was traced by police they found a Stanley knife in his trouser pocket.
Solicitor Pauline Cullerton said he has “little recollection of the offences due to his level of intoxication.”
He was placed under supervision for a year and an 8pm to 8am curfew for four months.
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