Four people have been ordered to stand trial over the alleged murder of a man in a Dundee flat.
Steven Hutton, 43, died after allegedly being attacked with a hammer, a knife and a screwdriver at an address on Charleston Road on March 30.
The four people accused of the murder are:
- Barry Murray, 43, of Ann Street;
- Scott Henderson, 39, no fixed abode;
- Carri Stewart, 42, of Mains Road;
- Brian Millar, 27, of Mains Road.
It is alleged that entry was forced to Mr Hutton’s home before he was struck on the head and body with a hammer.
He was allegedly struck repeatedly and stabbed on the body with a knife and a screwdriver.
Prosecutors allege Mr Hutton suffered severe injury, had his life endangered and was murdered by the four.
They each appeared from custody at Dundee Sheriff Court on separate dates last week, where they made no plea after being committed for further examination.
All four appeared at the same court for a second hearing in private on petition.
Sheriff Paul Brown fully committed them for trial and remanded them in custody ahead of further court dates being fixed.
Guilty gardener
The head gardener at Dame Ann Gloag’s Perthshire castle has been found guilty of attacking his wife when they lived together in staff accommodation there. Robert Isdale, 56, had denied the 2018 domestic assault at Kinfauns Castle, near Perth, but was convicted after a trial.
‘A bit of a doing’
A Dundee man has been banned by a court from a pub in Blairgowrie after spitting at an employee and in the face of a constable who took him to Ninewells.
Solicitor Theo Finlay said his client Iain Turnbull had been given “a bit of a doing” by locals at the Cartwheel Inn on July 2.
Turnbull was asked to leave the bar but came back in and spat on a worker.
Police were called and took the 39-year-old, of Thurso Crescent in Dundee, to Ninewells A&E department to have his injuries treated.
But in the waiting area after midnight, he spat in a constable’s face and had to be moved to a side room.
At Perth Sheriff Court, he admitted both assaults.
Mr Finlay added: “He has very limited recollection – he has absolutely no recollection of what took place in the hospital.”
Sheriff Jennifer Bain KC imposed a 72-day 8pm to 8am restriction of liberty order and exclusion order, banning Turnbull from the Cartwheel Inn, at the prosecution’s request.
She told him: “This is a particularly nasty assault on two people who were doing nothing but engaging in the course of their employment when they should have felt safe.”
Dangerous driving Decca
Bare-knuckle boxer and actor Derek “Decca” Heggie narrowly avoided striking two road workers after leading police on a wild car chase from Dundee. He claimed he was not the man responsible for driving a BMW dangerously as he was busy recording a podcast in Montrose at the time. However, a sheriff rejected Heggie’s version of events and found him guilty after trial.
Sick images
A man caught with hundreds of images of children being sexually abused has been ordered to perform unpaid work.
Paul Ower, 37, admitted possessing the material – most of which was at the highest level of depravity – at the home he previously shared with his mother in Dundee.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard how Ower had been arrested in connection with another matter when the discovery was made.
Fiscal depute Joanne Ritchie said: “The accused’s phone was seized and found to have indecent images of children in the cache having been deleted.”
Children as young as three were being abused in the 367 images discovered.
Ower pled guilty to possessing indecent images of children between October 7 2020 and January 22 2022.
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael made him subject to the Sex Offenders Register for 18 months, along with supervision for the same time period.
As an alternative to a jail sentence, Ower will have to perform 210 hours of unpaid work.
Florida folly
A Perth woman trousered thousands of pounds from the city’s Morrisons tobacco kiosk, then grumbled to her boss about being unable to afford her upcoming holiday to Florida after being caught. Shirley McLean, 44, was snared on CCTV putting cigarette sales through as void transactions and pocketing the cash, while working in the busy supermarket.
Railway louts
A day out to watch a Dundee United match descended into chaos after two Fife louts brought misery to the city’s railway station.
James Beattie, 40, shouted a racist remark while uttering a torrent of abuse on a train from Aberdeen, before continuing his unruly behaviour after the train had arrived in Dundee.
Beattie pled guilty at Dundee Sheriff Court to shouting, swearing, making abusive remarks and threats, shouting a racist remark and brandishing a bottle.
The incident occurred on February 26 2022 when Aberdeen drew 1-1 with United in the Scottish Premiership clash at Pittodrie.
Ryan Beattie, 25, admitted struggling with three police officers at Dundee Railway Station by tensing his arms, throwing his body weight around, lashing out with his arms and legs and struggling with them.
The pair, both of Cardenden, had sentence deferred until May by Sheriff Alastair Carmichael in order for reports to be prepared.
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