A hangry Perth man threatened to kill a McDonald’s employee after he was refused service.
Ray Stevenson visited the Dunkeld Road branch in October but was told the diner was only open for deliveries.
Stevenson, 32, shouted at employee Jakub Holos, “I’m going to kill you”, before storming out.
He had caused a disturbance at neighbouring Asda earlier that evening.
Perth Sheriff Court heard he made “nasty comments” about a staff member who tried to assist him at the self-service checkout.
Stevenson, of Nimmo Avenue, admitted acting in threatening or abusive manner at the two outlets on October 5, last year.
Solicitor Billy Somerville, defending, said: “He was behaving in this manner after consuming excessive amounts of alcohol.
“He is now making efforts to improve his behaviour.”
Sheriff Euan Duthie ordered Stevenson to carry out 66 hours of unpaid work.
Dog killer deferral
Dundee dog killer Bradley Simpson has become “a target” while on remand in prison, it was claimed. The 24-year-old was due to be sentenced for stabbing his family pet to death with a screwdriver but further reports have been ordered.
Paedophile
A 28-year-old Fife man was snared by a paedophile hunter pretending to be a teenage girl when he sent numerous sexually explicit messages to her online.
Brian McGowan believed he was communicating on Snapchat and Instagram with a 14-year-old girl called Cassie but was in fact speaking to a woman who previously worked for Maximum Exposure Scotland and now works as a solo decoy.
Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard how McGowan had been attempting to normalise paedophilia and claimed as long as sex was consensual it was okay regardless of age.
Procurator fiscal depute Jamie Hilland told the court McGowan then tried to gauge the decoy’s interest in forming a relationship with him.
A few days later, McGowan sent a number of sexualised messages including one which read: “I have thought about you in a sexual way a lot.”
McGowan, who appeared in court via video link to Perth prison, pled guilty to intentionally sending someone he believed to be a 14-year-old child sexually explicit messages and telling her he was sexually attracted to her.
The offending took place between September 11 and October 26 last year from his former home in Kirkcaldy’s Gourlay Street and elsewhere.
Defence lawyer David Cranston said a recent psychological report highlighted McGowan’s behaviour is almost certainly influenced by the fact he is autistic.
Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane adjourned sentencing until July 22 for the production of background reports and remanded him in custody.
Prison toilet brush attack
Convicted sex offender Kyle Leonard faces extra time behind bars after slashing a fellow Perth Prison inmate with a sharpened toilet brush. Leonard, from Dundee, struck victim Thomas Henderson with the improvised weapon about a dozen times. He will be sentenced next month.
Island stabbing trial
A Perth teenager will stand trial later this year accused of attacking a 15-year-old with a pair of scissors, leaving him severely injured and permanent disfigured.
Prosecutors say the alleged attack happened at the city’s Moncreiffe Island on Hallowe’en 2020.
The 17-year-old accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies assaulting the child to the danger of his life and seven other charges.
A trial was set for September 5 during a brief hearing at Perth Sheriff Court.
The charges against the teenager include, while acting with others, assaulting the schoolboy, punching and struggling with him, causing him to fall to the ground, biting him on the face and repeatedly striking him on the body with a pair of scissors or similar.
The teenage is further accused of assaulting -by punching and kicking him – another 15-year-old and and attempting to rob him and assaulting a third boy, also 15.
The teenager, who will be 18 by the time of his trial, is further accused of attempting to rob two 15-year-old girls, threatening to stab and kill them if they did not.
He is said to have behaved in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting obscene and sexually violent remarks.
It is alleged the teen also had the offensive bladed weapon in a public place.
Longannet death devastation
Demolition firm Brown and Mason Ltd, responsible for safety failings which caused the death of Cowdenbeath man Gary Robertson at Longannet power station in 2019 has been fined just £5,000 because it is in administration. Dedicated family man Mr Robertson – described by his wife as a “best friend” – died from his injuries after a near-30-foot drop from a severely corroded bridgeway onto concrete.
Yard assault
A Fife woman assaulted a fellow horse lover at a livery yard over an undisclosed message posted in a Facebook group chat.
Courtney Fraser, 23, pled guilty to punching the woman to the body, seizing her by the hair and dragging her to the ground, before kicking her on the head at Kirkness Livery Yard in Cardenden.
Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard the incident took place in June 2020.
Procurator fiscal depute Catherine Stevenson said Fraser knew her victim as they both kept horses at the livery yard and were part of a closed Facebook group for members.
The fiscal depute said in the weeks prior to the incident, their relationship soured.
On June 25 2020, Ms Paterson posted a message in the group chat which prompted Fraser to tell her not go to the livery yard that day.
The court heard att around noon that day, Ms Paterson arrived and Fraser attacked her, kicking her stomach, grabbing her by the hair and dragging her to the ground and kicking her in the head.
Sheriff James MacDonald said there was “significant mitigation” in relation to the circumstances and deferred sentence for three months for Fraser to be of good behaviour, adding that she would likely be admonished if she succeeds.
The full caseload of the Dundee Crime and Courts Team can be found here.
