Your essential round-up of Tayside’s court cases you can’t read about elsewhere starts right here…
Trial to keep tabs on
Women accused of selling thousands of counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco pouches will stand trial next month.
Lilla Malesza, 57, of North Ellen Street, and Kamila Malesza, 36, allegedly ran an unregistered tobacco business from Malesza’s home address on Crescent Lane, on January 22 2020.
The pair were allegedly found in possession of 200 Mayfair king-sized cigarettes, 55x50g Amber Leaf tobacco, 5,440 Richmond king-sized cigarettes, 200 Regal king-sized cigarettes and 15x50g Golden Virginia tobacco pouches, all of which were counterfeit.
They deny the charges and the case was continued to trial.
Floody nightmare
A man allegedly damaged his neighbour’s ceiling and lighting after flooding his bathroom, using tissue paper to block the drains in the bath and sink.
Dean Duggan is accused of maliciously blocking overflow drains at his flat on Nursery Park, Brechin, on March 23.
The 34-year-old allegedly turned on all the water taps, causing the bathroom to flood, damaging his own and his neighbour’s property.
Duggan was released on bail after appearing from custody at Dundee Sheriff Court, where he made no plea and the case was continued for further examination.
City-wide shoplifter
An arrest warrant has been issued for Perth woman Kerri Shaw, who stole hundreds of pounds worth of alcohol and other goods in a year-long shoplifting spree.
Shaw admitted a total of 21 charges of theft at supermarkets and clothes shops throughout the city, including Tesco and Morrisons.
The 24-year-old, of Viewlands Place, failed to attend at Perth Sheriff Court on Wednesday for sentencing.
The seven charges date from January last year, until February 15, 2021.
Broken leg charge
A man has been accused of injuring his passenger after crashing his car into a tree.
John Tough, of Glenogil Terrace, Forfar, allegedly caused the woman to suffer a broken leg through dangerous driving on the A90 southbound, Jack Martin Way, Dundee, on November 3 2019.
Prosecutors say Tough, 52, was driving without insurance when he drove dangerously on a roundabout, failing to slow down, negotiate a bend and colliding with a tree.
At Dundee Sheriff Court, Tough’s case was continued until May.
Drugs pusher hid stash in pram shipment
A Montrose teenager set up an international smuggling operation which was foiled when UK Border Force Agents intercepted a shipment on ecstasy.
Lewis Webster was just 19 when he started bringing drugs into the country from mainland Europe.
Read how his business was ended when nearly £20,000-worth of ecstasy, hidden in a shipment of prams, probably hijacked by a criminal gang, was searched at Heathrow.
Teeth flew out
A half-naked Perth man whose false teeth flew out as he confronted a homeowner in Bridge of Earn, will be sentenced next month.
59-year-old Eric Donaldson, of Primrose Crescent, was topless and had his trousers around his ankles as he bumped into the residents in the house he had illegally entered.
His false teeth flew across the room when he faced owner and was told to leave the home he had stumbled into on Poplar Drive.
After continuing to rummage through a handbag and drawers, Donaldson refused to budge, shouting and swearing at dad-of-three Craig White in his home.
He previously pled guilty to causing fear or alarm by entering the house uninvited, acting aggressively and spitting.
