A painter caught with a breadknife in Dundee city centre told police: “I was just going to use it to slash their tyres.”
Scott Chalmers previously pled guilty to possessing the offensive weapon on July 29 2023 at a car park near his South Tay Street home.
Prosecutor Stuart Hamilton told Dundee Sheriff Court police arrived and found the bladed item near the 34-year-old, who candidly conceded his intentions.
Sheriff Gregor Murray ordered Chalmers to complete 70 hours of unpaid work and granted forfeiture of the knife.
He said: “Possession of a knife in a public place is a serious charge.”
Horse deaths sentence
A lorry driver who caused the deaths of horses in a horrific crash on the Perthshire A9 has been banned from the roads and given unpaid work as an alternative to prison. Justin Bower ploughed through a makeshift warning sign before he hit a broken-down horse transporter on the A9 between Auchterarder and Perth on August 24 2021.
Fatality warning
A thug who punched a teenager at a Christmas party in Kinross has been sentenced to unpaid work.
James Sherry appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted assaulting the 17-year-old at a house in Dalwhamie Crescent.
Prosecutor Sam Craib said the victim had been drinking with friends on Christmas Day and at about 1am on December 26, left the property to walk home but he bumped into Sherry and they went to a nearby flat.
“After about an hour, the complainer was in the living room alone. The accused walked in and punched him to the head.”
Sherry was pulled away by a third person and the teenager suffered no injuries.
Solicitor Bethany Downham, defending, said her client was “not in a good head space” at the time and had turned to alcohol and illicit substances.
She added that Sherry, who was released from prison in April after serving time for domestic offences against two women, was remorseful.
“He has made the most of his time in custody and wants to put this lifestyle behind him,” Ms Downham said.
Now living in Tain, he has secured employment as a grass cutter for Highland Council and had joined a football team.
Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane told him: “Punching someone on the head can have fatal consequences and you’re lucky that didn’t happen.”
She ordered him to carry out 180 hours unpaid work as a direct alternative to custody.
Random picture pervert
Convicted paedophile Archibald Smith plucked a young girl’s image from the internet then sent it to a woman, claiming it was his daughter and asking if she wanted him to perform a sex act on the child. The horrified woman notified police. The offence was committed just three months after Smith was released from prison for previous sexual offences.
Bulk bought stash
Police found more than £3,000 worth of bulk bought cannabis stashed in a Stobswell gym supplement store.
Robert Mackowiak appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court to admit being concerned in the supply of the Class B drug at Albert Bodies on Albert Street on June 20 last year.
Prosecutor Sarah High explained police found 607.2g of drugs – worth £3,300 – when they executed a search warrant.
She said it was accepted Mackowiak’s dealing was social rather than commercial.
The 38-year-old’s solicitor Alanna Bryant said: “Him and his friends attended raves and they’d often buy cannabis.
“One would buy it and they would share it.”
Sheriff Grant McCulloch fined seasonal worker Mackowiak, of Smillie Court in Dundee, £1,200 plus a £75 victim surcharge.
He said: “Your involvement here is purely on a social supply basis… it’s still a crime and it’s a serious crime.
“I’m prepared to accept your reasons for doing it were perhaps economic.
“You now have a supply conviction on your record. If there’s any suggestion of anything similar in future then custody will be uppermost in the court’s mind.”
Footballer in court
Former Dundee footballer Jordon Forster was convicted by a jury of domestic assault. The court heard how he struck his then-partner’s head against a wall and hit her with a bottle during the course of conduct. He will be sentenced later.
Refused test
A driver who refused to do a breath test after being caught at the wheel of his Mercedes has been tagged and banned for three years.
Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard Mihail Surdu, 31, of Cochrane Walk, Dunfermline, had been convicted for the same type of offence about six months earlier.
He pled guilty to failing to comply with a breath test and breaching a bail curfew condition on November 11 last year.
Prosecutor Azrah Yousaf told the court police were called at around 1am by residents in a street about a parked vehicle with the window down and music being played “very loudly”.
Officers found Surdu in his Mercedes Sport car, with the engine running, about 45 minutes later.
They could smell alcohol on his breath and he was swaying.
Surdu, who was on a 11pm to 6am curfew, was unable to provide identification and police found two empty bottles of beer in the passenger footwell.
He was taken to the police station and asked for breath specimens but said he did not want to comply.
Surdu’s defence lawyer said his client was at a friend’s barbecue and had “lost track of time” and misunderstood his rights regarding the breath test.
The court heard Surdu, assisted by a Romanian interpreter, has a previous conviction for an analogous offence from April last year, for which he was banned for 16 months.
The sheriff sentenced Surdu to a 70-day restriction of liberty order, during which he must stay at home between 10pm and 6am, banned him from driving for three years and fined him £150.
Aircraft carrier thefts
A Rosyth dockyard worker who stole parts for the HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier has been given a community sentence. Jamie Aird stole metal and valves over a period of nearly four months and earned himself more than £6,200 from a scrap metal dealer.
‘Grotesque’ domestic violence
Allen Bell, 34, from Dundee, waged an 18-month “grotesque” campaign of violent and psychological abuse against his ex-partner.
At Oban Sheriff Court, he pled guilty to a course of domestic and physical abuse between July 21 2022 and February 6 2024 at various locations in Oban, Dunbeg, Paisley and Tenerife.
He admitted repeatedly sending offensive and threatening messages and voicemails, and making degrading remarks.
Bell admitted seizing the woman by the hair, recording her on his phone, kicking her in the head and repeatedly punching her on the body.
He admitted posting screenshots of intimate conversations and videos between the couple on social media and threatened to do more if she did not maintain contact.
The course of conduct happened while Bell was on bail.
Fiscal depute Raeesa Ahmed said the abuse started when he was asked to leave her house in 2022.
On December 29, the accused placed his thumb in her eyes, then threw a Yankee Candle in a glass jar at her head, knocking her out.
On another occasion, Bell accused his partner of plotting against him and kicked and punched her ribs, leaving her covered in bruises.
Later, while the complainer was on holiday in Tenerife with her family, Bell continued to contact her, saying he loved her and at the same time he wanted to kill her
The unwanted contact continued and frightened woman finally went to the police.
Threats of violence using knives and guns followed and Bell was arrested.
Sheriff Euan Cameron described the crimes as “quite appalling” and said they had been carried out in the “most grotesque manner”.
He said: “The inevitability is that of a custodial sentence” and deferred sentencing for reports.
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