A woman has been cleared of attempting to steal a toddler from a Perth housing estate.
Marie Calikes was charged with the offence – known as attempted plagium – in 2020.
It was alleged that in May that year, at a property in the city’s Tulloch area, she tried to steal a three-year-old child who was living at the address with his mother.
Calikes, 38, appeared on petition at Perth Sheriff Court in connection with the alleged incident just over a year ago.
She was released on bail, but ordered not to approached the child’s mother, nor go near the housing estate.
The case called again at the same court on Thursday.
In her client’s absence, solicitor Pauline Cullerton submitted a letter to Sheriff William Wood, outlining Calikes’ personal circumstances.
Procurator fiscal depute Michael Sweeney said: “The crown accepts the special defence that the accused lacked criminal responsibility by reason of mental disorder at the time.”
Sheriff Wood added: “There is no evidence that the court should make any further interventions in this case.”
Banned from keeping dogs
In 2019, Calikes, of Sauchie Terrace, Crieff, was banned from keeping dogs for a decade following an incident in which she stood by and watched as her Staffordshire bull terriers savaged a pensioner and his Labrador.
She wept as a sheriff issued an order for the destruction of her three pets after she was found guilty of being the owner of dangerous dogs involved in the attack in the town in November 2017.
