The Monday court round-up.
Kinder surprise
A drug dealer who smashed her own brother round the head with a crowbar has already spent two years on remand for the offence.
Stacey Phinn, 35, was caught with more than £4,000 worth of drugs secreted in a Kinder egg and hidden in her underwear.
Sheriff Paul Brown released Phinn on bail after noting she had spent the equivalent of a two year prison sentence on remand, waiting for the case to be dealt with.
He said: “These are serious offences that justify a lengthy prison sentence.
“It would not have been appropriate to give you an alternative to custody had you not been on remand for so long.”
Fiscal depute Lora Apostolova previously told Dundee Sheriff Court police were contacted about people taking drugs in a common close and Phin and two males were traced.
A strip search revealed a package in her underwear and wraps of drugs in a Kinder Egg were found internally.
Phinn, from Dundee, admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine in the city’s Rosefield Street on September 3, 2020.
She also admitted attacking Sean Phinn by punching and kicking him and repeatedly striking him on the head and body with a crowbar on his head and legs to his injury in a Dundee street on April 28, 2021.
Sheriff Brown deferred sentence for the assault for a supplementary report.
Primary school blaze
Three West Lothian men have admitted torching the abandoned Inverkeithing primary school building. Allan Alexander, Christopher Bauld and Kai Russell drove from Livingston and broke into the school, before setting fire to items within and fleeing.
Saved by two-year delay
A mourner high on cannabis when he reversed at high speed past a primary school and smashed into the side of a police van has not been jailed, due to the passage of time.
Sheriff Alistair Carmichael told Michael Coombs if it had not taken nearly two years to bring the case to a conclusion he would have been sent to prison.
The sheriff said: “You pled guilty to driving dangerously in a residential street at 1.30pm and reversing at speed without thinking of the safety of pedestrians and then driving into a police van.
“You were unfit to drive and under the influence of cannabis.
“You were of sufficient maturity to understand what you were doing was wrong.
“The gravity of the offence, the need to adequately express the public’s disapproval and the need to deter others suggests a custodial sentence is required.
“However, I have to take into account other things. This happened on 7 May 2020, almost two years ago. You have not been involved on other charges since.
“The thing that has tipped the balance in your favour is the passage of time and the fact you have been out of trouble for nearly two years.”
Coombs reversed the convertible BMW down the busy residential street at lunchtime and mounted a pavement before smashing into a fence.
It was after he crashed that he rammed into the police van and then made off on foot before being cornered and found to be high on cannabis.
Sheriff Carmichael banned Coombs from driving for 16 months and ordered him to carry out 160 hours unpaid work.
He also placed him under supervision and told him to attend the Venture Trust programme.
Coombs, 23, from Dundee, admitted driving dangerously by reversing at speed along the city’s Nithsdale Avenue on May 7, 2020.
He also admitted driving under the influence of drink or drugs.
Domestic abuse essay
Monikie man Craig Perrie has been ordered by a sheriff to write an essay about how he wills top being a domestic abuser. After his latest offence, the oil worker was told to complete the work by Friday.
Keys assault
A 52-year-old Fife woman has been found guilty of repeatedly striking her former partner in the head with a set of keys, which left him with severe injury, permanent disfigurement and impairment.
Beverley Ferguson (or Jones) assaulted the man by repeatedly scratching and punching him on the head, seizing hold of his head and repeatedly striking him on the head with the keys on November 27, 2020.
A jury found Ferguson, of Navitie Park in Ballingry, guilty of the charge by majority following a trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.
Sheriff Susan Duff adjourned sentencing until March 28 for reports.
The full caseload of the Dundee Crime and Courts Team can be found here.
