A witness in a jury trial has been warned she faces a real prospect of jail after she was found in contempt of court by Sheriff Davidson.
Leanne Martin, 29, of Kinghorne Court, Dundee, had been remanded in custody overnight on Monday by the sheriff after her “prevarication” in the witness box while giving evidence in an assault trial.
Martin appeared in the dock on Tuesday following the conclusion of the trial, where 28-year-old Kenneth Melville Fraser, Kinghorne Walk, was found guilty by a majority of the jury of assaulting Ross Gillan by striking him on the head with a glass bottle to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement at Hilltown on July 19 last year.
Finding Martin in contempt, Sheriff Davidson told her: “This is a very serious contempt of court, not to give your evidence in a clear and straightforward manner.”
He said if witnesses did not give their evidence in a proper manner then the justice system would operate under the “law of the jungle,” which he said he was not prepared to allow.
Accepting she might have been under a certain “pressure” as she “had a foot in both camps” while in the witness box, he granted her bail.
However, he warned her that did not mean a custodial sentence would not be imposed when she came back for sentence on September 10.
Earlier, Sheriff Davidson told Fraser he was obliged to get a local authority report on him as his conviction was his fourth for violence, two of which resulted in injury.
He said: “This indicates to me that you have a propensity towards violence and I need to know whether either an extended sentence or supervised release is required.
“This was a very serious assault, causing Mr Gillan severe injury and permanent disfigurement.”
He was remanded in custody pending reports until September 10.