Wednesday’s court round-up bares its teeth.
Dangerous dog charge
A man has appeared in court accused of allowing his pets to maul a Labrador.
Craig Dingwall entered a not guilty plea to being in control of the dangerous dog in Stobie Place, Oakley.
48-year-old Dingwall is alleged to have been the owner of a black Japanese Akita and Neapolitan Mastiff which approached a woman and seized hold of her dog on May 31.
It is alleged a passerby attempted to force Dingwall’s dog to release the labrador by prising open its jaws but the dog failed to desist and the man sustained an injury as a result of his intervention.
Dingwall, of Oakley’s Old Mill Lane, will stand trial later this month.
Convicted on circumstantial evidence
Joseph Darcy from Kirkcaldy was convicted of assaulting his partner after a trial despite her giving evidence denying he had done so. Darcy and his girlfriend claimed she had received injuries in a fight with another person but a sheriff found him guilty on the circumstantial evidence provided by police and neighbours.
Dog threat charge
An abusive boyfriend threatened to harm his partner’s dog during a nine-month campaign of cruelty.
Barry Riddell appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court and admitted engaging in a course of behaviour that was abusive towards his partner – during and after their relationship – between March 17 and December 8, 2021.
The 35-year-old, of Brownhill Street, admitted that at various locations in Dundee, he contacted her through phone calls, texts and social media messages.
He made offensive remarks and threatened to damage property.
Riddell also made threats of violence towards her and made threats to harm her dog.
He further pleaded guilty to breaching bail conditions by repeatedly contacting the woman.
Sheriff George Way deferred sentence until March 7 and Riddell was released on bail.
Crash injuries blamed for sexual assaults
Jordan Phillips was warned he could have been jailed for sexually assaulting a woman and a teenager in December but a medical report suggested injuries from a car crash had reduced his culpability.
Text tech trauma
A Fife man who sent his ex 500 text messages in less than a fortnight due to a “text-to-speech function on his phone” has been admonished.
Cameron Whitley’s previous lawyer said he used the function on his phone to combat his dyslexia.
The 27-year-old also called the woman 111 times, leaving multiple voicemails.
Whitley had been told to be of good behaviour by Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane after admitting the course of conduct at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.
His solicitor David McLaughlin explained he had kept out of trouble.
Sheriff McFarlane admonished Whitley and chose not to enforce a non-harassment order.
At a previous hearing, solicitor Martin McGuire, then defending, said due to his dyslexia Whitley used a voice-to-text app to write his text messages but that this caused the messages to be sent a paragraph at a time, making them seem more excessive than they would otherwise.
Whitley, of Sycamore Avenue, Methil, admitted engaging in a course of conduct that caused the woman alarm at an address in Buckhaven between October 9 and 21.
The full caseload of the Dundee Crime and Courts Team can be found here.
