Another collection from courts across Tayside and Fife.
Made-up gang attack
A Perthshire pensioner has been fined £360 for lying to police about a gang attack.
Kenneth Law, 71, dialled 999 and told operators he had been set upon by four men.
But when officers raced to his home in Crieff, he admitted there had been no such assault.
The OAP instead said that someone had made some kind of gesture towards him.
Fiscal depute Joanna Ritchie told Perth Sheriff Court Law made a call to the non-emergency 101 number the following day, claiming he was “suicidal” after someone in the street called him a “dirty old man”.
This was a reference to a previous court case from 2019, when Law admitted exposing himself to a female police officer and making a series of hoax 999 calls.
Ms Ritchie said that police, paramedics and a “crisis team” went to Law’s home in Corlundy Crescent.
They did not see anything wrong with Law, she said. He was taken to Perth Royal Infirmary for a check-up and was later cautioned and charged by police.
Solicitor David Holmes said Law had mixed alcohol with prescription medication.
Law admitted on two occasions in mid-December 2019, at his home and elsewhere, contracting emergency services without cause and repeatedly making false claims to them, for the purpose of causing inconvenience and needless anxiety for officials at Police Scotland and other services.
Sheriff Alison Michie told him: “I see that this is not your first offence of this type.
“However, you have stayed out of trouble since this incident and I think there is merit in drawing a line under matters today.”
Jacket brawl
A Fife man has admitted permanently disfiguring another man in a brawl over a jacket.
Neil Proctor, of Earn Road in Kirkcaldy, admitted that last January he assaulted Michael Christie.
Mr Christie was left severely injured, permanently impaired and permanently disfigured after Proctor, 44, seized him by the clothing and repeatedly punched him on the head.
Defending, Krista Johnston said the brawl “seemed to be a fight over a jacket.”
She noted Proctor has a “very extensive record” but only one previous conviction for violence.
Sheriff James Williamson deferred sentencing until March 15 for a social work report to be prepared.
The sheriff released Proctor on bail and told him: “Don’t assume you’re not going to prison for this.”
Dealer caught with stun gun
A West Midlands man who was selling cocaine in Fife was caught by police with a stun gun.
Daniel Church, from Preston on Stour in Warwickshire, appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on Tuesday and admitted being concerned in the supply of the Class A drug.
Between April 21 and May 19, Church was involved in dealing from properties in Taylor Street in Methil and Wellshot Road in Kennoway.
At the Methil address in May, 21-year-old Church was found to have a stun gun.
Defending, Krista Johnston said: “He himself developed an addiction.”
She said: “He was pretty much recruited.
“He indicated the item in charge two (stun gun).
“It was in the place where he was sofa surfing.”
Church was released on bail and is due back in court on March 15 for sentencing.
Trial ends with culpable homicide verdict
Dundee man Jackie Doig has been found guilty of culpable homicide following the death of Arbroath dad Frankie Melvin.
Doig, 42, stabbed Mr Melvin several times during an altercation on Newbigging Drive and Spitalfield Place in Arbroath.
He went on trial at the High Court in Dundee, accused of murdering the 34-year-old in August 2020.
A jury returned a majority guilty verdict to culpable homicide on Tuesday morning, after five days of evidence.
Doig had admitted stabbing Mr Melvin, but insisted he was acting in self defence.
He told jurors on Monday: “If it wasn’t him, it would be me.”
Movie career in tatters
A film industry worker’s career is in tatters after he mistakenly bought an illegal firearm with the intention of hiring it out as a prop.
Christopher Nordstrom, from the Broomhead area of Dunfermline, told police he purchased the blank-firing pistol for £500 and had it delivered by Royal Mail.
He said there were companies in England which provide such props to the industry, but no similar business exists in Scotland, and believed he had identified a gap in the market.
But Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard that the 45-year-old’s home was raided after his name appeared on a database of a dealer arrested in England.
The full caseload of the Dundee Crime and Courts Team can be found here.
