A Dundee man who was caught with a knife in Buttars Court has been spared jail.
Sheriff George Way ordered David Smith, 38, to complete 210 hours of unpaid work at a sentencing hearing at Dundee Sheriff Court.
Smith, of Burnside Court, had been caught by police with the blade on November 24 2020.
Smith’s solicitor Kevin Hampton said his client “understands a custodial sentence will be very much at the forefront of the court’s mind.”
Sheriff Way said: “At the end of the day, this merits a custodial sentence.
“In a sense, custody is too easy.
“I think unpaid work makes more sense to me.
“This is a direct alternative to custody.
“People who carry these kinds of items go to prison.”
666 crook
A bungling crook with “666” tattooed on his neck raided a monastery while wearing the same jacket he stole from a Wetherspoons the night before. Alan Brown was escorted from St Mary’s monastery in Perth by his 80-year-old victim during a 24-hour crime spree last year.
Tag attack
A Perth thug who attacked his pregnant partner when she threatened to remove his electronic tag has been sentenced to unpaid work.
Ex-slaugherhouse worker George Stewart was last year placed on curfew for racially abusing a female police officer.
He was ordered to stay at home between 7pm and 7am for making anti-Irish comments while being arrested for having a knife in Coupar Angus.
Stewart was back in the dock at Perth Sheriff Court on Friday, having admitted assaulting his girlfriend last month.
She was eight-and-a-half-months pregnant at the time, the court heard.
Stewart, 30, lashed out during an argument when his partner threatened to switch off his tag box.
Sheriff Francis Gill told him: “This was a nasty assault that could have had more serious consequences for your partner and her unborn child.”
Stewart, of Stromont Street, was ordered to carry out 65 hours of unpaid work and placed on supervision for a year.
Sheriff Gill did not issue a non-harassment order, after hearing Stewart’s partner did not want one.
Fiscal depute Bill Kermode said Stewart became aggressive during a late night argument.
“The complainer called 999 and provided the address but then hung up,” he said.
A short time later, Stewart “stepped towards her and with both hands pushed her stomach.”
Mr Kermode said: “This caused her to fall back onto the bed.”
The court heard that the woman was uninjured.
Bizarre behaviour
Foodbank founder Graham Holden from Kinross was fined after assaulting a man who was “behaving bizarrely” towards two young women near his home. The 49-year-old was behind the Broke Not Broken charity.
Unwanted attentions
A 38-year-old Fife man repeatedly contacted a woman with unwanted messages and phone calls and went to her home uninvited and left her gifts.
Barry Gibson, of Broad Street in Cowdenbeath, pled guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner towards the woman in Ballingry, between December 16 last year and January 1.
He appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court to admit the charge.
Sheriff David Hall told him: “You have got significant convictions for which custody was imposed for analogous type (of offending).”
Sentencing was adjourned until June 15 for the production of background reports.
Defence lawyer Elaine Buist said her client and the woman had been experiencing difficulties towards the end of last year due to a tragic event.
The full caseload of the Dundee Crime and Courts Team can be found here.
