A woman whose dog injured a teenage girl in a Dunfermline garden has been ordered to pay compensation.
Lyne Kernaghan’s Rottweiler jumped at the girl, leaving her with scratches.
One of the grazes was deep enough to require paper stitches.
Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard the girl had stood up when the dog entered the garden as she was afraid of them.
However a solicitor for Kernaghan said the dog had not been involved in any incidents since.
Kernaghan, of Chapel Place, High Valleyfield, admitted having a dog that was dangerously out of control on Bute Crescent, Dunfermline on July 25 2019.
The 49-year-olf was ordered to pay the girl £300.
Taken
After news earlier this year Tayside is the dog theft capital of Scotland, watch The Courier’s new documentary, Taken: A Dog Owner’s Worst Nightmare in which we explore the emotional impact of the crime.
Unwanted contact
Perth businessman Christopher Earl has admitted plaguing his ex-partner by phoning her more than 100 times between August 1 and September 30 last year.
He also sent her 141 text messages, Perth Sheriff Court heard.
Earl, 39, tried to call his ex approximately 10 times a day but on one occasion phoned 23 times.
He pled guilty to breaching a court order by contacting her again in May this year.
Sheriff James MacDonald admonished Earl after hearing he had been trying to contact his partner to sort out civil court proceedings and not to purposefully annoy her.
The sheriff also noted Earl, of Bonhard Road, Scone, had been met with silence and had not been told the contact was unwelcome.
He said: “It’s important that I emphasise the only reason this behaviour is deemed criminal is due to the persistence of these calls.
“However, breaching your bail condition is in a different category.
“In this instance, it is not simply that the complainer did not want you to contact her but the court had told you not.
“That takes this to a higher level.”
Sentence was deferred for six months for the bail breach and. Earl was told if he stays out of trouble he will be admonished.
Benefit fraud
Dundee shopkeeper, Hassan Mirza, 39, who fought a decade-long battle with the government over whether he is related to his father has admitted conning more than £20,000 in benefits in his dead dad’s name.
Hit out due to grief
An Inverkeithing man who made threats to kill family members was upset due to the death of a relative.
Liam McGarvie admitted sending menacing messages to three relatives across the course of a single evening after one relative made a “derogatory” comment.
Threats made by the 26-year-old included coming to one relative’s house to “shoot them all”.
He told another he was going to kill him and if he was not at home he would go to the man’s son’s address and kill him instead.
McGarvie’s solicitor said he was struggling to deal with grief at the time.
He said: “It’s not acceptable.
“His uncle made derogatory remarks about his cousin, who had passed away.”
McGarvie, of King Street, admitted sending the messages on June 19.
He further admitted failing to give a police officer his name and date of birth at an address in Inverkeithing on July 7.
Sheriff William Gilchrist told him: “This is no way to behave or react, despite the provocation.”
He placed him on a curfew for two months and a supervision order for nine months.
Dundee swinger
A guest has admitted trashing a chandelier by clambering over a balcony and swinging on it 60 feet above a Dundee hotel reception area. Offshore worker Ross MacPhail carried out the bizarre stunt as guests were gathering for breakfast at the Sleeperz Hotel in Dundee.
Landmark case
Scottish legal history was made in the High Court in Edinburgh when a man who sexually assaulted his ex-partner during a campaign of terror against her and another woman was jailed.
David Findlay, 32, from Edinburgh, was given a five-year jail term followed by three years’ supervision by judge Lady Haldane after being convicted of two charges of breaching section one of the Domestic Abuse Scotland Act.
Prosecutors proved he engaged in courses of conduct which harmed the physical and psychological well being of his victims from March 2013 to April 2014 and June to September 2019, respectively.
He assaulted one woman by seizing her by the neck and choking her until she struggled for breath.
He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.
Legal experts think the approach in the Findlay case think is one way in which rapists can still be brought to justice in cases where sexual assaults cannot be corroborated.
Following Findlay’s conviction, Sandy Brindley, chief executive of campaign group Rape Crisis Scotland, said: “This is a really encouraging development.
“It can be incredibly hard to get justice following rape and it’s important that every avenue is explored.”
Scotland’s Procurator Fiscal for High Court Sexual Offences, Fraser Gibson, said: “The assaults on one woman – including serious sexual attacks – were captured within new legislation, which has given prosecutors another tool in seeking justice.
“The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 was enacted to better reflect the reality of domestic abuse – recognising a course of behaviour which is abusive of a partner, or ex-partner.
“The abuse can be physical, verbal, psychological, sexual or financial.
“Where there is sufficient evidence of repeated abusive behaviour, as defined in the legislation, and where there is a connection between the behaviours, this can now be recognised as part of an overall corroborated course of conduct.
“This may include instances of serious sexual offending.”
Animal neglect
Fife woman Patricia Steven, who neglected a menagerie of pets has been banned from keeping animals for 10 years. The Cardenden 53-year-old lied about having pets but the Scottish SPCA found her home filled with cats, an underweight snake and two flea-ridden dogs.
