A man accused of attempting to murder someone at a Dundee pub has been released on bail.
Ryan Robertson, 31, is accused of attacking the man on May 3 at The Tavern in Whitfield.
Prosecutors allege Robertson repeatedly struck the man on the head and body “by means unknown”, causing severe injury, permanent disfigurement and endangering his life.
Robertson, of Grampian Gardens, continued to make no plea when he made a second appearance on petition at Dundee Sheriff Court.
He viewed proceedings via video link from HMP Perth after being remanded during his first appearance but he was released on bail ahead of further court dates being set.
Hairdresser-from-hell
A boyfriend-from-hell hairdresser has been convicted of a catalogue of horrific domestic abuse against multiple women for the second time in 10 years. William Hill, 44, bombarded ex-girlfriends with menacing calls and texts, held one captive in his flat and mocked another about the death of her stillborn child.
Tool thief
A Montrose tool thief who stole almost £4,000 worth of kit from a Hillcrest work site has been placed on a curfew.
Aaron Bradley returned to Forfar Sheriff Court to be sentenced after admitting raiding a flat in the St Peter’s Place building last October.
Fiscal depute Jill Drummond said the tools belonged to a joiner, working self-employed for a subcontractor on behalf of Hillcrest, whose tools were kept there overnight.
When he arrived at 7am on October 7, he a Makita saw was missing from a stand and the tool case was empty.
A bedroom window at the block had been smashed and a brick was lying outside.
Bradley’s blood was found throughout the building.
Police arrived at the 30-year-old’s William Philips Drive home on October 18 and found a toolbox, a Stanley tote bag, an OX folding knife and a Black and Decker heat gun which had been stolen from someone else.
In all, Bradley’s loot was worth £3,794.
Sheriff Paul Ralph placed him under supervision for a year and on a curfew for five months.
Rolled car
A grandmother from Fife left her passenger seriously injured when she lost control and rolled her car several times in a field on her way to a Perth Prison visit. Doreen Baxter, 56, from Cardenden, tried to overtake a slower moving van and spun out of control into a field, rolling repeatedly before coming to a halt.
Exposed
A 24-year-old Fife man attacked his friend then exposed himself to his dad when he came to collect his son.
Jordan Neil, of Rev Downie Wynd, Saline, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court for sentencing after earlier pleading guilty to the assault and public indecency charges.
In the early hours of January 22 this year, after drinking, he seized his friend by the body, dragged him to the floor and punched him on the body.
The court heard the victim ran out to hide behind some bins and called his mother for help.
A short time later, the man’s father drove into the street to collect his son.
His left the vehicle to talk to Neil, who responded by “pulling down his jogging bottoms and exposing his penis,” the fiscal said.
Defence lawyer Alexander Flett said Neil had been experiencing mental health difficulties at the time and referred to a “sad family background and childhood trauma” described in a social work report.
Sheriff Susan Duff said Neil has made positive changes to his life, including working and regularly attending the gym and church.
The sheriff sentenced Neil to 105 hours of unpaid work and one year of offender supervision as part of a community payback order.
Laughing abuser
A domestic abuser who carried out violent attacks on two former partners in Dundee has been spared a prison term. One of the women feared 27-year-old Bruce Webster was going to kill her when he grabbed her by the throat. Another ex-partner was thrown around a living room by laughing Webster.
Shoplifter jailed
A habitual shoplifter who stole more than £1,250 worth of goods from Angus shops over a three-month period last year has been jailed for 12 months.
Leanne Dickson, ordinarily of Warddykes Avenue in Arbroath, appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court via a video link from prison.
The 36-year-old had previously admitted stealing:
- £299.70 worth of air fresheners, laundry products, pizza cereal and dog food from Arbroath Tesco on September 13;
- £130 worth of Christmas gift sets and make-up from Boots in Arbroath on October 4;
- £177 worth of alcohol from Arbroath Tesco on October 8;
- £16.90 worth of alcohol from the Co-op on Mayfield Terrace, Arbroath, on November 8;
- 10 Christmas gift sets from Boots in Arbroath worth £382 on November 12
£100 worth of goods from the Co-op in Carnoustie on December 15.
Dickson also acted in a threatening or abusive manner towards a retail worker in the Boots store on November 11 by refusing to leave and threatening to pull items from a shelf.
Lawyer Nick Whelan explained his client has a long-standing drug problem and said: “It is depressing. She seems to be saying the right things.”
Jailing Dickson, Sheriff Paul Ralph said: “I suspect we have rather run out of road.
“You’ll be as depressed as anyone having to go through the criminal justice process again. You’ve been here so many times before.”
Bogus workman
A Kinross-shire workman tried to scam an elderly Alzheimer’s patient out of £4,500 in a swiftly-rumbled cheque scam. Landscaper Mark McPhee took a blank cheque he had been given to buy materials but instead tried to cash the four-figure sum at a bank.
Rapist’s appeal fails
Fife rapist Kyle Beveridge has filled in his bid to overturn his conviction and sentence.
The ex-soldier subjected to his victims to a series of sexual assaults between 2013 and 2021. His youngest victim was just 14.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard how he threatened to post intimate images of a woman online if she did not sleep with him.
Beveridge, 29, of Lochgelly, was convicted on seven of the 10 charges he faced and handed a 16-year extended sentence, with a 12-year custodial term.
In his appeal, he challenged the decision to admit hearsay evidence from a relative of one of the victims.
However, appeal judges said the transcript confirmed the trial judge had not told the jury relatives’ evidence supported the “credibility and reliability” of the victim, as was claimed.
Beveridge also contested the sentence on the grounds he had not previously served a prison sentence, had no analogous offence offences and was a young person at the time of the incident.
He also asserted his good character as evidence of his rehabilitation as an adult.
However the appeal judges noted the sentencing judge had demonstrated “he took scrupulous care considering all relevant mitigating and aggravating features of the case.”
They noted Beveridge was considered at high risk of causing further serious harm and the extended sentence was necessary to protect the public.
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