A busy start to the week for our courts team.
Cocaine driver
A van driver was caught motoring along the A9 with cocaine in his system.
Motorcycle police pulled over Martyn Groves at the Broxden Roundabout, on the edge of Perth.
They were alerted by a suspicious smell coming from his cab.
Groves, 43, appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted driving with 61 microgrammes of cocaine derivative Benzoylecgonine in his blood on March 17, 2020.
The permitted limit is 50mics.
Fiscal depute Joanne Ritchie said police on patrol at the roundabout spotted Groves’ van just before 10am.
“They had reason to stop the vehicle,” she said.
“Officers noticed a smell within the vehicle which caused them to ask the accused to provide a sample of saliva.”
Groves tested positive for cocaine and cannabis at the roadside.
The father-of-three, from Beeches Road, Clydebank, was taken to Perth police station where he provided a blood sample.
A toxicology report later revealed illegal levels of cocaine in his bloodstream.
Solicitor David Holmes said his client accepted he had taken cocaine, but had felt fit to drive.
Sheriff Euan Duthie told Groves: “Very little can be said to excuse driving while under the influence of drugs, regardless of how you felt at the time.”
Unemployed Groves was fined £500 and banned from driving for 12 months.
Phone in lag’s leg
A Perth prisoner hid a mobile phone in his prosthetic leg. Jodie Cormack, 30, who was serving a 30-month sentence for a road crash that left six people injured, admitted having the concealed contraband when he appeared at Perth Sheriff Court.
N-word assessment
A Perth man who used the N-word during a videocall with friends will be assessed by a psychologist.
Shaun Morrison launched into a bigoted rant when he found out his then-friend was in a relationship with his ex-girlfriend.
The 30-year-old told Daniel Mustard on the group FaceTime chat a “black b*****” and a “black n*****.”
Morrison, a first time offender, appeared at Perth Sheriff Court for sentencing.
Having previously admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive way and making racist remarks during the online chat on August 6, 2019, Morrison further admitted a breach of Covid-19 laws by being outside his home in April 2020, during the early days of lockdown.
Sheriff William Wood deferred sentence to obtain a psychological report.
Morrison, whose address is listed as the Ark Housing Association, Fairies Road, Perth, was told to return to court on March 7.
Car crash
A Fife man ploughed his Corsa into another car in Markinch, ramming the vehicle into a building.
Jordan Lynch then lied to police, telling officers the car had been stolen.
Lynch, of Aitken Road in Glenrothes, pranged his red hatchback on the corner of Commercial Street and Kirk Street on January 9 last year.
At Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, he admitted driving dangerously, at excessive speed and losing control of the vehicle.
At around 11am, Lynch crashed into a Ford Fiesta being driven by Sandy Grieve.
His car pushed the Fiesta into a building on the corner.
Fiscal Depute Sean Maher said “significant damage” was done to both vehicles.
Lynch, 24, admitted failing to stop and report the crash and also to attempting to pervert the course of justice.
In a statement he gave at Kirkcaldy Police Station later that day, he told police the car had been stolen, knowing it wasn’t.
Sheriff Timothy Niven-Smith postponed sentencing until February 18 for reports.
Punched own grandmother
Ryan Ure from Methil was imprisoned for seven months for punching is own grandmother. The court heard the 71-year-old was not hurt but Ure was unrepentant.
Dog lead assault claim
A Fife woman is alleged to have beaten another woman with a dog lead.
Stephanie Carmichael is said to have repeatedly struck a woman with the instrument at an address in Cupar, on July 15.
Carmichael, 30, is also said to have kicked and spat at Dundee police officers at their headquarters on West Bell Street on January 13.
She is alleged to have uttered threats to end her own life in front of officers.
Carmichael, of Kinloss Park, Cupar, appeared on petition at Dundee Sheriff Court before Sheriff Alastair Carmichael.
She made no plea and was remanded.
The full caseload of the Dundee Crime and Courts Team can be found here.
