A man smeared Sudocrem on his mother’s floor and couch and wrecked doors in her home after an argument.
Stephen Justice, 27, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court to plead guilty to vandalising property at an address in High Valleyfield on March 28 this year.
He damaged doors, overturned furniture and appliances and spilled Sudocrem, which is used to treat nappy rash and other skin conditions.
Prosecutor Catherine Stevenson told the court Justice had argued with his mother, who left the house for a few hours and returned to find the damage and her son still there.
She contacted police, who attended to find a broken door in the hallway, holes on other doors, and Sudocrem on a wooden floor couch.
The fiscal depute said the kitchen was in a “state of disarray”.
When Justice was arrested, he replied: “I will replace the door”.
Ms Stevenson indicated that no value for the damage caused was made available to the court.
Defence lawyer Aime Allan said Justice, of Mackie Place, Dunfermline, was struggling with his mental health at the time but is now on treatment and feeling better and has paid to fix the damage.
Ms Allan said Justice and his mother are still talking but he is not allowed to enter the property and is staying with another family member.
Sheriff Susan Duff deferred sentence for six months for Justice to demonstrate good behaviour, at which point he will be admonished if he has stayed out of trouble.
Brazen dealer
A brazen drug dealer caught pushing street Valium in Dundee city centre has been jailed. Police CCTV captured Paula Bowman, 53, exchanging wraps of etizolam and cash on High Street and City Square on multiple occasions.
Porn ‘obsession’
A young man with a pornography “obsession” was shopped to police by his own parents after they discovered a secret hard drive containing indecent images of children.
Ross Copland, 24, appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted possessing illicit files featuring youngsters as young as 10, on May 2 2021.
Fiscal Douglas Thompson said: “At the time of the offence, the accused was living at home with his parents.
“There were difficulties within the family, in regards to his obsession with pornography.”
He said Copland was not allowed to connect to the home wi-fi in an effort to stop him downloading X-rated video and images.
His mum and dad also routinely searched his electronic devices.
On May 2 2021, with Copland out of the house his parents searched his bedroom and found a hard drive of which they had previously been unaware.
It contained multiple adult images but also a folder titled “Young” which contained indecent images of children thought to be between 10 and 13.
Police were contacted and several electronic devices were later seized by police for analysis and a total of 64 obscene files were found, including 24 duplicates.
Copland, of Perth, was placed on the sex offenders register and will be sentenced next month.
Terrifying calls
A domestic thug has been jailed for breaching a strict court order by bombarding his ex-partner with a series of menacing voicemails. In one of the recordings, Kevin Watt told his former partner: “I will destroy you.”
Domestic bully
A domestic bully who trapped and attacked his former partner in a flat in Forfar has been jailed for more than two years.
Michael McKay previously locked his victim inside her first floor flat, held a knife against her throat and threatened to kill her.
Just three weeks earlier, the roadworker appeared in court from custody after biting her chest in an argument.
Earlier this year, McKay pled guilty to injuring the woman in a domestic assault on June 17 last year, then again after abducting her on July 6 and sentencing was deferred for McKay to be interviewed by social workers.
At Dundee Sheriff Court, he appeared by video link from HMP Perth to be sentenced to 27 months in prison, backdated to the start of his remand.
His solicitor John Boyle said there is “an acceptance that he requires assistance to regulate his temper”.
Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith also made a five-year non-harassment order and told him to complete nine months of post-release supervision.
Payback warning
A bogus psychiatrist who treated scores of patients while working in Tayside has been ordered to pay back the NHS more than £400,000 or face two-and-a-half more years in prison. Zholia Alemi, 62, who faked the completion of her qualifications, was jailed in February 2023 for seven years after she committed a string of fraud offences.
Caught in Cowdenbeath
An annoying pub-goer was caught by police in Cowdenbeath at nearly four times the drink-drive limit.
Scott Reid got in his car after being asked to leave the Beath Inn and was spotted driving about half-an-hour later with damage to the front of his vehicle and a burst tyre.
The 38-year-old, of Dunfermline Road, Crossgates, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court to plead guilty to driving with excess alcohol (84mics/22) at Station Road, Cowdenbeath, on May 7 this year.
Sheriff Susan Duff fined him £300 and disqualified him from driving for a year, though the ban can be cut to nine months if he completes a drink-driving rehabilitation course.
Prosecutor Catherine Stevenson told the court that around 11.30pm police received a report from staff at the pub saying Reid was asked to leave after “causing annoyance” and had done so in a car.
After the damaged vehicle was spotted, stopped at a junction, officers approached Reid, who was smelling of alcohol and had glazed eyes.
Defence lawyer Pete Robertson said he doubts Reid, who works for RJ Macleod and drives a van for colleagues, would lose his job as a result of the conviction on the basis there are others working in the organisation who do not have a driving licence.
£49k from own grandmother
A woman from Bridge of Allan who embezzled £49,000 from her own grandmother after being granted power of attorney has been ordered to repay the money within nine months. Nicola MacKenzie was spared jail but handed the maximum possible number of hours of unpaid work.
Dove disqualified twice in two days
A Fife man caught driving while disqualified two days in a row has narrowly avoided a jail sentence.
Christopher Scappaticcio, 37, drove a Vauxhall Astra illegally in Cowdenbeath High Street on May 7 and in Blacklaw Road and Gorrie Street, both Dunfermline, on May 8.
He appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court for sentencing by video link to prison after earlier pleading guilty to two charges each of driving while disqualified and without insurance.
The court heard Scappaticcio, of Brucefield Terrace, Lochgelly, was banned from driving for five years in August last year.
Defence lawyer Stephen Morrison said his explanation for one of the incidents is the owner of the car had taken his “bag of property” and suggested he would not return it unless he moved the vehicle because others were drinking.
Mr Morrison said his client had initially refused to do this but “succumbed to intimidation”.
The solicitor said Scappaticcio, who has issues with anxiety and depression, has been on remand since May 9.
Sheriff Charles Lugton told him “you are very close to going to jail” but sentenced him to 200 hours of unpaid work, a nine-month tagging order, two years of offender supervision and a programme requirement to engage with the road traffic offenders group.
He also banned him from driving for six years.
The sheriff said the sentence is a direct alternative to custody.
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