The prosecution of a DJ accused of posing as a serial killer has been hampered by a half-hearted police investigation, a court has heard.
Perth Sheriff Court was told part of the police probe into Steven Rose had been “paltry” and prosecutors had to step in.
Rose is alleged to have posed as infamous serial killer Jeffrey Franklin to torment his lover in Auchterarder during a year-long period of extreme controlling and violent behaviour.
He allegedly sent his partner a package “from” Franklin who, with a hatchet, sledgehammer and knife, killed his mother and father and seriously injured several of his siblings in Alabama, USA, in 1998.
Police criticised
Fiscal depute Michael Sweeney told the court the complainer had given the police a USB stick which “contained thousands of messages from over the period of the libel”.
He said: “The police went through the USB and then submitted a paltry amount of evidence from that – about eight pages.
“After that I undertook to get the USB and it was passed to a colleague who then spent three days going through all of the messages.”
Sheriff Mark Stewart said: “So, the problem here is caused by the police not doing their jobs properly?”
Mr Sweeney hesitated, before replying: “Yes.”
The sheriff said: “You are a prosecutor, not a police officer.
“Your job is not to investigate crime.
“The police – as investigating authority – were given a task to do and it appears that didn’t happen properly.”
Evidence to be returned to police
Mr Sweeney said he proposed to send the USB stick back to the police for them to do the job more thoroughly before the pending trial.
Sheriff Stewart said: “There has been a lot of time wasted.
“I think we need to make some progress.
“I think the Crown have to get a grip of it.
“Somebody at a senior level has to do something about it.”
He told the fiscal depute: “I’m sorry, I know you are the messenger.
“I appreciate it’s not your fault.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “As proceedings are live, it would be inappropriate to comment at this time.”
16 months of abuse alleged
Rose, 43, of Forth Avenue, Paisley, allegedly chased his partner with a baseball bat and threatened to kill her after accusing her of cheating on him.
Rose is alleged to have engaged in a course of abusive behaviour towards his partner in locations across Scotland between May 1 2019 and August 31 2020.
He is accused of quizzing her on her whereabouts and why she was wearing make-up, as well as controlling who she was allowed to speak to and when.
Rose allegedly threatened to end the relationship if she spent time with friends and went to her mother’s house to find her if she left home without his approval.
As well as allegedly accusing her of being unfaithful and taking money from her without repaying it, he also allegedly acted in a “passive-aggressive, jealous and controlling” way and monitored her social media use.
He is accused of ransacking a room at her Auchterarder home, calling her an unfit mother, and refusing to let her visit a friend unless he was accompanying her.
Death threat and package claims
He is alleged to have seized her by the throat and restricted her breathing, pinned her to a bed and tried to hit her with a baseball bat before chasing her and making death threats.
It is alleged that during July last year “he sent a package to her house in the name of serial killer Jeffrey Franklin”. Between January and July 2020 he is alleged to have taken photos and videos of her while she was drunk and scantily clad.
He allegedly threatened to upload the videos to the internet and smashed a glass in a Dunfermline hotel room before claiming to have cancer.
Rose denies the charge at Perth Sheriff Court and a trial is scheduled to take place towards the end of this year.
Jeffrey Franklin
Jeffrey Franklin was just 17-years-old when he brutally attacked his parents and young siblings with a hatchet, sledgehammer, rat-tail file and butcher’s knife on March 10 1998.
He killed parents Cynthia and Gerald and left critically injured his siblings Sara, 14, Timmy, 8 and 6-year-old Christopher.
After initially claiming he was not responsible, Franklin pled guilty to murder and attempted murder and was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences, in 2001.
