Collapse into the weekend with another batch of true crime tales from our court reporters across the county.
Is that a phone I see before me? I hope so
A Tayside prisoner was caught with a mobile phone sticking out of his bottom.
Grant Macbeth was caught with the illicit device at HMP Castle Huntly.
It happened on December 10, 2019, before phones were issued to inmates across Scotland as a result of the Covid pandemic.
Perth Sheriff Court heard that officers at the open jail became concerned about Macbeth’s behaviour.
“He appeared to be under the influence,” said fiscal depute Nicole Lewis.
“As a result he was subject to a search.”
She said: “A small black object was found protruding from between the cheeks of the accused’s buttocks.”
Macbeth, now released, admitted a charge of possessing a phone behind bars.
Solicitor Paul Ralph said the 38-year-old had since moved to Livingston and was in the process of starting up a business.
Sentence was deferred until February 16.
Dealer gran
A Dundee grandmother has admitted being concerned in the supply of street Valium.
When Linda Archer’s flat was raided by police, she handed over more than 1,000 Etizolam tablets.
At Dundee Sheriff Court on Friday, she pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of the pills in January 2018.
Fiscal Depute Carol Docherty said Archer was on her way out when police arrived at her Strathmore Avenue flat.
“She was asked to re-enter the property,” said Ms Docherty.
“The accused clearly stated: ‘I’m going to get strip-searched anyway, this is what you’re looking for’.”
She handed over a bag containing tablets and was found to have £435 in cash.
More tablets were found within the flat.
The court heard that around 1,050 tablets were uncovered in total and were valued at around 40p each.
Solicitor James Caird said: “She indicated she paid something like £300 for them.
“She had a habit herself.
“She’s a 52-year-old. She’s given up drugs.”
Sheriff Paul Brown placed Archer, now of Deveron Crescent, on a restriction of liberty order.
She will be banned from leaving her home between 7am and 7pm for 135 days.
The sheriff said: “This is obviously a serious offence.
“It’s the type of offence that passes the threshold for a prison sentence.
“I’ve listened to the mitigation and I am persuaded there is an alternative to custody.”
Landmark legal case
A Perth woman has successfully sued a soldier for raping her after a night out in Dundee – four years after he was acquitted by a high court jury.
In a landmark civil ruling – only the second of its kind in Scotland – a sheriff has found that Sean Diamond raped the woman after she fell asleep on a friend’s sofa in 2015.
Sheriff KJ Campbell has now awarded her damages of nearly £120,000.
Speaking after the ruling, the woman, known as Ms AB for legal reasons, said she was “overcome with emotion” after nearly six and a half years of “fighting for justice”.
Charity Rape Crisis Scotland said the case “exposed cracks in the criminal system”.
Speeder snared
A 23-year-old woman has admitted speeding at 102mph on a stretch of the A92 dual carriageway in Fife.
Holli-Ann Thornby-Cook, of Kirkland Gardens in Methil, exceeded the 70mph limit between Lochgelly and Cowdenbeath on March 28, last year. She also pleaded guilty to not being insured to drive the vehicle.
Thornby-Cook further admitted driving without insurance on August 8, 2021.
She instructed her solicitor to tender guilty pleas to all three charges at Dunfermline Sheriff Court on Friday.
Sheriff Susan Duff ordered the case to be continued and for Thornby-Cook to appear in court in person on February 23.
Unhappy customer
A traveller made bomb threats against an airline after they lost his luggage on the way to his wedding.
Adhnan Khalid was due to tie the knot in Morocco in 2019 but was forced to cancel the nuptials as vital documentation was inside his missing bag.
Counter terrorism police were alerted after an enraged Khalid posted messages on the company’s social media page hinting that an explosive device might be on board one of their planes.
The full caseload of the Dundee Crime and Courts Team can be found here.
