A varied midweek round-up.
‘Despicable’ Covid cougher
Janice Docherty from Kirkcaldy raged at a homeless man then coughed on police who arrested her, telling them she had Covid-19.
The 45-year-old was sentenced to unpaid work and told to pay both police officers £500.
Docherty, of Whitehouse Mansion, previously admitted acting in a threatening or abusive manner on Kirkcaldy High Street and then assaulting police officers.
Fiscal Depute Freya Anderson-Ward told Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court the police were flagged down by a member of the public who said Docherty was being abusive towards a homeless man on September 26 last year.
The homeless man explained what had happened and Docherty began swearing at the officers until she was placed into the back of their car.
While driving to Kirkcaldy Station, Docherty said she had Covid-19 and deliberately coughed in the face of the officer beside her in the back seat.
Her solicitor Danielle Stringer said her client was “significantly intoxicated” at the time.
Sheriff Alison McKay said: “One of the things at the forefront of my mind is custody because this was despicable.”
However, she instructed the first offender to complete 225 hours of unpaid work as a direct alternative.
Massage mayhem
Brechin man Marc Sleet attacked a masseuse with a knife over fears he was going to be robbed in her flat. Sleet had arranged for a private massage in the woman’s Dundee flat but was spooked when he heard other people there and pulled out the knife. He was given unpaid work and told to inform authorities if he started a new relationship with a woman.
Left dazed on street
Perth pub-goer John Robertson attacked a man and left him lying “dazed” on the street with multiple injuries.
Robertson got into an argument in the city’s Mill Street, after he was ejected from the Bank Bar for being argumentative with a woman just after midnight on November 12.
Robertson, 28, challenged her boyfriend to a fight and then punched him in the face several times as he tried to walk away.
He suffered a bloody nose, cut lip and a cut above his right eyebrow, which needed to be glued shut at Perth Royal Infirmary.
When he heard police were on their way, Robertson, of Forest Way, Blairgowrie, jumped into a taxi.
Officers pursued the cab and arrested him.
At Pert Sheriff Court he admitted assault and was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.
Speed dealer
Fife drug dealer Julie Chalmers was involved in an illegal amphetamine operation which experts say could have seen £1.4 million of the drug pass through her hands.
The 30-year-old from Kirkcaldy was convicted of being concerned in supply of the drug with a street value of between £16,770 and £36,310.
However, it was stated in court if she had dealt a similar amount each week for the time she was involved, the £1.4 million total could have been realised.
Child neglect charge
A Dundee man and woman are to stand trial accused of a string of child neglect allegations.
Kayleigh Moses, 24 and Steven Getty, 32, will stand trial in July accused of failing to feed, clothe, stimulate and care for a youngster in their care.
Both maintained their not guilty pleas at Dundee Sheriff Court.
The charges of neglect relate to dates between 2018 and 2019 at an address in Dundee.
They include allegations they left the child with a serious injury, for which they failed to seek medical attention.
The trial date was set for July.
Phone call folly
An abusive boyfriend was caught when an officer answered his partner’s phone while she was complaining about him at Perth police HQ. Daniel Sweeney had just fired off a volley of abusive texts to the woman.
‘I’ll break your jaw’
Oil worker George McQueen, of Haughfield Terrace, Cupar claimed he was intervening to stop a group of boys from harassing a young woman when police caught him threatening the teenagers.
He admitted behaving in a threatening manner at a bus stop on St Mary’s Place, St Andrews on February 21, 2020.
Depute fiscal Rachel Hill told Dundee Sheriff Court: “Police saw the accused in confrontation with the youths.
“He said ‘I’ll break your jaw’ and ‘I’ll knock you out’.”
Defence solicitor Anika Jethwa said he approached the youths because they were “picking on” a young girl.
McQueen, 54, was fined £75 with a £10 surcharge.
High-speed crash
James Forrester left a woman with a serious head injury after crashing into a tree at nearly twice the speed limit in Methil. The woman had earlier “screamed” at him to slow down. He was remanded pending sentencing.
The full caseload of the Dundee Crime and Courts Team can be found here.
