A man who killed a beloved family pet requires further psychiatric testing before he can be sentenced, a judge has ruled.
Bradley Simpson, 24, mutilated his mother’s dog Buddy shortly after being released from police custody earlier this year.
He has spent more than 100 days in custody since committing the offence.
Sheriff John Rafferty has ordered further reports into the man’s mental state before he can decide how to deal with the matter.
A solicitor has previously said his client is “a target” in prison.
The remains of Buddy the German Shepherd were found burned and buried in a shallow grave in a public park after the horrific attack.
Simpson was remanded in custody after he admitted stabbing the dog to death with a screwdriver at his family home in Dundee on April 1 this year.
He admitted causing the animal unnecessary suffering by repeatedly stabbing it in the city’s Honeygreen Road and Linlathen Park.
A not guilty plea to a charge alleging he then burned and buried the dog in the park was accepted by the Crown.
Sheriff Rafferty deferred sentence for further reports.
Simpson was locked up pending the preparation of reports after a sheriff was told he had already been freed five times on bail before the attack.
Dangerous driving disaster
Friends of a Perth learner driver who rolled a car full of friends 15-feet into a field had to spend a night in hospital after his uninsured joyride ended in a collision. Jack Ferguson is now banned after after he returned to court for sentencing, having previously admitted two charges of dangerous driving.
Abused MP online
A Dundee man who sent abusive and threatening messages to former Conservative MP Ross Thomson has been sentenced to a 50-day curfew.
Reece Cuthbert, 26, previously admitted using Facebook to send offensive messages to the former MP for Aberdeen South on July 13 2019.
Cuthbert, of Haddington Avenue, Dundee admitted sending messages that were “grossly offensive” and of “indecent, obscene or menacing character”.
The former Ninewells Hospital worker had been on a structured deferred sentence and had been ordered to be of good behaviour.
Mr Thomson did not seek re-election in the 2019 General Election.
Sick stash
A Leven dad was caught with sick child abuse photos on his mobile phones. John Gallagher, 39, pled guilty to downloading the indecent photographs between November 2020 and January 2021, at an address in Cowdenbeath.
120mph speeder
Sean Smith, 23, admitted speeding at 120mph on the A92 in Glenrothes, while travelling southbound on the dual carriageway between the Bankhead and Redhouse roundabouts in October 2021.
Procurator fiscal depute Lee-Anne Hannan told Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court Smith was followed by a marked police car after officers saw him enter a roundabout at speed, shortly before 10pm on October 25 last year.
The fiscal depute said that, as the police followed, the speedometer in their car indicated a speed of between 110mph and 120mph.
Officers spoke to Smith who replied: “It was stupid of me to do it.”
Ms Hannan said Smith, of Leslie High Street, did not appear to be driving erratically, just “very, very fast.”
The court heard he was already disqualified for a previous dangerous driving conviction.
Sheriff Ian Anderson adjourned sentencing until August 3 for the production of background reports and for his personal appearance.
Pub raider
Serial Dundee pub raider Scott Mitchell has been jailed after his latest theft – a hoodie from Molly Malones. Prosecutors had originally alleged Scott Mitchell stole the till from the West Port bar but he pled guilty to the lesser crime..
The full caseload of the Dundee Crime and Courts Team can be found here.
