The first of the week and the last of a busy, busy month.
Teenager denies eight allegations
A Perth teenager will stand trial next month accused of attacking a 15-year-old with a pair of scissors, leaving him severely injured and permanent disfigured.
Prosecutors say the alleged attack happened at the city’s Moncreiffe Island on Halloween 2020.
The 17-year-old accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies assaulting the child to the danger of his life.
A trial was set for March 24 during a brief hearing at Perth Sheriff Court.
The charge against the teenager states that, while acting with others, he assaulted the schoolboy, repeatedly punched him on the head and body, struggled with him, causing him to fall to the ground, bit him on the face and repeatedly struck him on the body with a pair of scissors or similar bladed item.
The teenager is further alleged to have assaulted another 15-year-old on the island, on the same date, and repeatedly punched him on the face, kicked him on the body, causing him to fall to the ground and thereafter repeatedly kicked him on the body.
It is further alleged that at the railway bridge between Tay Street and Moncreiffe Island, the accused attempted to rob the same 15-year-old and stated he was in possession of a knife and demanded he give him alcohol.
The teenager is also accused of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, likely to cause fear or alarm, by shouting and uttering obscene and sexually violent remarks.
He is further accused of attempting to rob two 15-year-old girls and demanding they give him alcohol, while threatening to stab and kill them if they did not.
It is alleged he also shouted, swore, made threats of violence and pursued the girls, stating he was in possession of a knife.
The teenager is alleged to have assaulted another 15-year-old boy by repeatedly punching him on the head, pushing him and causing him to fall to the ground and straddling him.
It is alleged the teenager had an offensive weapon – a pair of scissors or similar – in a public place.
He denies all eight charges against him.
Fan punished
Dundee United fan Marc Jackson, who pushed an Aberdeen player during a stormy game at Tannadice in November, has been sentenced to unpaid work. Jackson pushed Funso Ojo after the midfielder ran towards United fans to retrieve a loose ball. He admitted assault.
Painter banned
A Kirkcaldy painter has been banned from the road again after being caught behind the wheel while disqualified.
Decorator Paul Laurie was pulled in by police on Victoria Road shortly before noon on May 30.
Laurie had been banned from driving at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court 14 months before.
Officers conducting routine checks also found the 35-year-old was not insured to drive the van at the time.
His solicitor Martin McGuire put the decision down to “stupidity.”
Sheriff Maryam Labaki chose not to jail Laurie, of Ramsay Road, as a discount for his early pleas of guilty.
She fined him £840 and banned him for a further year.
Former PC’s second assault
Former Dundee police officer Darren Moore has admitted a second-football-related assault. The 42-year-old was found guilty in December after trial of assaulting a 13-year-old in a dispute over a game of children’s football in 2019. He has now been convicted of a second such assault, on an adult male, stemming from similar circumstances.
Supervision
A Fife man who threatened to hurt his ex’s new partner has been placed under supervision.
Kinglassie man Steven Watson previously admitted he acted in a manner likely to cause fear or alarm at a property in the village’s Mina Crescent.
On May 8, the 41-year-old shouted, swore and made derogatory remarks.
Watson, of Laurence Park, also made threats of violence towards his ex’s new partner.
Sheriff Maryam Labaki placed Watson under supervision for a year.
Watson had been furnished with a year-long non-harassment order at a previous hearing.
The full caseload of the Dundee Crime and Courts Team can be found here.
