Heading out of hump day with our daily court round-up…
Door alarm theft
A “persistent thief” from Perthshire broke into a stranger’s house in Precinct Street, Coupar Angus and stole items including her door alarm.
Alexander Laurie, 48-year-old was previously the victim of a serious assault, which left him with a brain injury, Perth Sheriff Court heard.
On the night of the break-in, in March 2020, he had been drinking alcohol, on top of his medication.
Laurie, of Calton Street, Coupar Angus, crept in through a kitchen window and made off with a hearing aid pouch, a gas lighter, a quantity of candles and wax melts, a door bell and a door alarm.
Sheriff William Wood told him: “The difficulty that I have is that I understand you were brutally attacked and stabbed six times in the head, and that you have addiction issues.
“All of which would be ample grounds for the court to take a lenient view, were it not for the fact that you are a persistent thief.
“In all the circumstances, a custodial sentence seems to me to be appropriate here.”
Laurie was jailed for 18 months.
Gambling with his freedom
Serial fraudster Timothy Grantham was slammed by a sheriff as a “thoroughly dishonest person” after stealing £162,000 from his mother-in-law to fund gambling.
The 62-year-old ex-serviceman was shopped by his wife when she discovered his duplicity.
He had spent between as much as £90,000 on gambling at a Dundee casino.
The former fundraiser for Help for Heroes was told by the sheriff as he was freed on bail to be sentenced at a later date: “You have to be under no illusions that a custodial sentence is very much at the forefront of my mind.”
Joyrider crashed
A joyrider who led police on a high-speed chase across Dundee before smashing into another car has been ordered to perform unpaid work.
Lennon Russell drove a stolen Volkswagen Golf on the wrong side of the road before colliding with a silver Audi on October 3.
The 21-year-old admitted taking the car without the lawful authority of its owner on October 3 on Balgarthno Road.
He drove it dangerously on Kinghorne Road, Strathmartine Road, Main Street, Dens Road and Moncur Crescent.
He admitted driving at excessive speeds in poor weather conditions, overtaking vehicles, driving on the opposite side of the road and driving towards oncoming vehicles.
Russell, of Strathcarron Place, then collided with the other car and caused “substantial damage”.
He also pled guilty to driving without a licence and insurance as well as failing to stop for police or providing his details following a collision.
At Dundee Sheriff Court, Russell was ordered to perform 180 hours of unpaid work and disqualified from driving for 40 months.
Hauled partner by hair
A Dunfermline thug has admitted to hauling his partner along the floor by her hair.
Connor Adams appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court where he pled guilty to assaulting the woman at an address in the town’s Golfdrum Street.
Adams, of Kennedy Crescent, admitted that on November 14 2020, he punched his victim on the head, seized her by the hair and pulled her along the floor by it.
He was taken to Dunfermline Police Station where he behaved in a threatening manner.
26-year-old Adams repeatedly shouted, swore and uttered racially offensive remarks.
He will be sentenced on May 26.
Also…
Andrew Kerr, the ex-RAF serviceman who posed as a stuntman on Facebook to induce a Tayside woman to send him videos of her crushing children could face a lifetime behind bars after a judge ordered a report into an Order for Lifelong Restriction.
Car thieves Robert Fleming and Alistair Montague admitted stealing cars from a Dundee dealership – and elsewhere in the city – after being caught on CCTV ransacking the business’ office.
Wannabe international drug smuggler Lewis Webster from Arbroath was jailed after trying to import drugs from Amsterdam to Arbroath. He had hidden them in a consignment of prams, which was intercepted by Border Force agents.
In case you missed it…
Monday round-up — A parcel pincher and pencil-point robbery claim
Tuesday round-up — Broom threat and heroin stash
Gangster Granny: The rise and fall of Dundee’s most unlikely drugs baron
