A teenage Fife firebug has caused more than £10,000 worth of damage when he torched bales of hay near Ladybank.
Bryce Roberts was not present at Dundee Sheriff Court when his case called but his solicitor tendered pleas of guilty to wilful fireraising and possessing a hammer.
Roberts, 20, admitted that on December 18 in 2023, he set fire to hay bales at Pitlessie Common near Pitlessie Road in Ladybank.
The fire took effect and caused damage to stable buildings there.
Prosecutor Stuart Hamilton said the cost of the damage caused totalled between £10,000 and £11,000.
Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith deferred sentencing until February 27 for first offender Roberts, of Kinloch Street in Ladybank, to be personally present.
Upskirt pervert
A Dundee man has admitted taking photos under women’s clothing on a train journey in Fife, at a plush Edinburgh hotel and at an insurance broker in the capital. David Bathgate, 42, targeted one of his three victims while on a ScotRail train between Inverkeithing and Kirkcaldy.
Remorseless rapist
A Fife rapist will spend 10 years behind bars and the rest of his life on the sex offenders register after being given an extended sentence.
Former butcher James Birrell, 38, appeared to be sentenced via video link at the High Court in Dundee.
After a trial, jurors convicted Birrell, of Mulberry Crescent in Methil, of serious sexual assaults including an indecent assault carried out in a vehicle parked on the A915 Standing Stane Road on October 2010.
The woman, who was left injured, was then raped by Birrell at a property in a Fife village around six weeks later.
Birrell was also convicted of raping a second woman in Methil in October 2021 while she was asleep and unable to consent.
Jurors also found Birrell guilty of three assaults, a campaign of stalking and a charge of domestic abuse.
His offending included spraying water at a kitten, pulling its tail and stamping on the floor near the young animal.
Judge Lord Renucci imposed an extended sentence of 12 years – 10 in custody and two on licence in the community afterwards.
He said: “The criminal justice social work report indicates your continued denial – you’ve expressed no remorse.
“It’s clear from the evidence at the trial… that your offending has had serious and lasting emotional and psychological consequences.
“Anything that could be said in your favour is heavily outweighed by the gravity of your offending.
“It’s clear from the terms of the report you continue to deny the offences and accept no responsibility. Indeed, there is an attempt to blame your victims.”
Lord Renucci also made non-harassment orders protecting the victims.
Trial collapse
An Angus juror caused a trial to collapse when she defied a sheriff’s instructions and carried out her own investigation into a criminal case. Chanel Hogg, of Arbroath, admitted the contempt of court at Forfar Sheriff Court after she told another member of the jury about her online probe into the case’s accused and forced the trial to collapse as it reached its latter stages.
Gun claim
An ex-soldier’s claim he had a gun sparked a rapid police response at a Kirkcaldy Aldi car park.
Darren Hain, 38, of Bevan Court, Glenrothes, appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court for sentencing after earlier pleading guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at the Ferrard Road Aldi and Kirkcaldy police station on May 5 last year.
He admitted shouting and swearing, claiming to have weapons and lunging aggressively towards a male constable.
Prosecutor Brogan Moffat said Hain contacted police at around 10:45pm and said someone was going to “punch him and shoot him”.
“He stated to the call handler that he had a weapon and thereafter stated he had a gun.
“The call handler could hear him shouting at what sounded like members of the public at the time and thought he was potentially in possession of a firearm.”
Officers parked their vehicles around the car park for the safety of members of the public and Hain shouted, “come on then,” “f**k off” and “I surrender”.
While being booked in at Kirkcaldy police station, Hain attempted to headbutt a constable, the fiscal added.
Defence lawyer Alexandra Philp explained Hain, who was in the Army from age 17 to until discharged on medical grounds aged 21, suffers from PTSD and was having health difficulties at the time.
Hain also previously pled guilty to a domestically-aggravated offence of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting, swearing and brandishing a hammer at an address in Glenrothes on October 18 2023.
The solicitor said her client struggled to manage his emotions when drinking, as he had been during both offences, and has since given up booze.
Sentencing was deferred until March 7 for background reports.
Lucky to be alive
A burly fencer who stamped on a man’s head during an argument outside a Perth pub was told his victim was “lucky” to have survived. Jason Clark faces jail for the life-threatening assault at the Welcome Inn, Rannoch Road.
Murder accused
Tandy Swinton, 43, is to stand trial accused of the murder of 97-year-old William Lambie at his flat in Dryburgh Gardens in Dundee last April 15.
It is claimed she pretended she was a carer to get in and aggressively demand money.
She is said to have pushed Mr Lambie and prosecutors claim the pensioner was so severely injured he passed away on May 26 2024.
Swinton faces a separate charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice, alleging she grabbed a community alarm belonging to Mr Lambie and tried to stop him getting help by telling an operator were “no issues and no assistance required” despite knowing the pensioner was hurt.
Swinton is also accused of repeatedly behaving in a threatening and abusive manner towards an 82-year-old woman over two days in April 2024 at another flat in Dryburgh Gardens, putting her in fear and alarm by repeatedly ringing her doorbell and asking for money.
Swinton pled not guilty at the High Court in Glasgow and a trial was set for October.
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