Slide into the weekend with another collection of true crime tales from courts across Courier Country.
Handbrake havoc
A man who took the handbrake off a car and let it roll down a Fife street has been ordered to carry out unpaid work.
Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard that Robert Cairney, 38, had attended at a property on Dunfermline’s Edward Street but had been denied entry due to being drunk.
He then lifted a rock and smashed the window of a car belonging to the property’s occupants.
He left the scene but returned later the same day and released the vehicle’s handbrake, causing it to roll down the hill and collide with a parked car.
Solicitor Zander Flett, defending, said Cairney had wanted a jacket returned to him but that it was locked in the car.
He also said the car had only rolled a short distance after the handbrake was released.
Cairney, of McKinney Crescent, Irvine, admitted wilfully damaging property by smashing a car window at an address on Edward Street, Dunfermline on June 19.
He further admitted acting culpably and recklessly by releasing the handbrake of the car, causing it to roll down the hill and posing a significant risk to pedestrians and other road users.
He also admitted being in possession of an offensive weapon at the town’s Black Lock Place on the same date.
Cairney was placed on a 15-month supervision order and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.
Hogmanay assault
A Fife man punched his partner in the face during a drink-fuelled Hogmanay attack.
Jurijs Kavalkos, 32, of Golfdrum Street in Dunfermline, admtted the assault charge at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.
Sheriff Wylie Robertson ordered Kavalkos to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work within as a direct alternative to custody.
He warned him any breach of this or repetition of the violence could result in prison.
Procurator fiscal depute Catherine Stevenson told the court the pair had been drinking together throughout the day and watching television on December 31.
His partner phoned her family in Latvia to wish them Happy New Year.
Miss Stevenson said: “While on the phone the accused continued to drink heavily and the more he drank, the more aggressive he became.”
When the woman finished her family call, Kavalkos grabbed her by the arms and pulled her hair and swore at her in Russian.
The woman ran outside to escape and, shortly before midnight, witnesses outside the couple’s front door heard and saw the commotion.
Miss Stevenson continued: “It was at this time the accused walked through the front door and approached the complainer and he punched her once to the left side of the face.”
The witnesses ran to assist the woman and told Kavalkos to leave her alone and took her into their home.
Kavalkos tried to get her to return but witnesses were reluctant due to the level of violence. Police later attended and arrested him for assault.
Defence lawyer Elaine Buist said Kavalkos and the woman are still living together and that, as far as she is aware, there have been no incidents since December 31.
Threatened to rip ex’s head off
An HGV driver who sent a string of abusive voicemail messages to his ex-partner has been fined.
Andrew Nelson had been in a “volatile” relationship with the woman for a number of years.
Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard that the relationship had come to an end several months before the offence.
In the messages, Nelson used a string of expletives and threatened to rip her head off.
Representing himself, Nelson told the court he was “embarrassed” to appear in court
He said he had been struggling to cope with the break up and had made “a bad choice of words”.
Nelson, 52, of Edgar Street, Dunfermline, admitted behaving in a threatening and abusive manner by sending the voicemails from his home address between November 12 and 17 last year.
He was fined £400.
Hammer assault
A Perthshire dad who battered a man with a hammer on his doorstop has been warned he faces “significant” jail time.
John Davidson “tooled up” and bludgeoned rival John Sturrock when he turned up at his home in Alyth.
Davidson, 36, went on trial at Perth Sheriff Court this week accused of attacking Mr Sturrock, leaving him severely injured and permanently impaired, on June 25, 2020.
His solicitor David Holmes lodged a special defence of provocation.
Davidson told the court if he hadn’t used the hammer against Mr Sturrock, he would have been left “lying on the ground.”
But jurors took less than an hour to find him unanimously guilty of the assault.
The full caseload of the Dundee Crime and Courts Team can be found here.
