A Romanian man was arrested at airport customs on Sunday night after failing to turn up to be sentenced for hurling items from scaffolding on Kirkcaldy High Street.
Augustin Negru appeared from custody at the town’s sheriff court after being arrested while re-entering the UK.
Negru, of Seafield View in Kirkcaldy, previously pled guilty to recklessly climbing scaffolding and throwing “various items” to the ground on September 17 this year.
He admitted his actions caused fear and alarm and sentence was deferred for a social work report.
However, solicitor James McMackin explained Negru, 57, had returned to Romania to sell family-owned land and returned later than expected due to unspecified complications.
Sheriff Alastair Brown released Negru on bail and ordered him to comply with report completion ahead of a fresh sentencing date of January 24.
Funeral fraudster back in court
Fife’s funeral fraudster Barry Stevenson-Hamilton was back in the dock – in another name – after pretending to be a nurse during the Covid pandemic. He had tried to register with a care company but was rejected when a background check was done.
Asda bag of drugs
Dundee man Shaun Cooper, 33, was caught transporting tens of thousands of pounds worth of illegal drugs in a white van between Arbroath and Dundee.
Cooper, of Gourdie Street, admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis between August 2020 and 2021.
He was pulled over by police, acting on received intelligence, on the A92 outside Muirdrum, on August 23 2021.
Depute fiscal Lora Aspolotova told the court: “The accused told officers there was a quantity of weed in the van.
“An Asda bag was recovered from the back of the van containing cannabis.
“It was estimated to have an illicit value of £9,710.”
She said a later search of Cooper’s Dundee property uncovered 1206 grammes of cannabis with an estimated street value of £12,060.
£31,080 of cash was found, as well as mobile phone messages suggesting drug supply activity.
Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown ordered reports, deferred sentence to next month and warned Cooper he faces prison.
Screwdriver attack
Dundee drug addict Terry Barr, 32, almost killed a man who he attacked after spotting him using a city centre cash machine. Barr repeatedly stabbed the stranger with a screwdriver, before taking his wallet, keys and phone.
Asleep in the dock
A drunken lout who frightened schoolgirls in a Montrose park fell asleep in the dock as he was being sentenced.
Gareth Harris circled Scott Park in Montrose while drunk on July 24 2020, before approaching a group of schoolgirls at the play area.
He asked if they knew a named girl and one showed him her photo from her social media.
Harris took the phone, kissed it and began to walk away before saying: “I want to strangle her grandmother for the way she dresses her.”
He left and a parent later called police.
At a previous court hearing, Harris admitted acting in a threatening or abusive manner.
When the 42-year-old appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court to be sentenced, he fell asleep in the dock and had to be woken by his solicitor Nick Markowski, who said his client was medicated.
Harris, of Mortimer Drive in Aberdeen, was placed under supervision for six months by Sheriff Krista Johnston as an alternative to custody.
Self-medication – with a knife
A Fife mum whose horrifying bus station attack ended in a woman cutting off part of her own ear must complete unpaid work. Samantha Ellis’ victim was left with part of her ear hanging off after being savagely beaten in Glenrothes on Hogmanay.
Drunk-in-charge
A Kinross pensioner caught behind the wheel while more than twice the legal drink-drive limit has been fined £1,000.
Derek Wood was arrested in the town’s Old Causeway after a concerned member of the public reported seeing him staggering to his parked car.
Perth Sheriff Court heard the 69-year-old was “unsteady on his feet” as he climbed into his Toyota Aygo.
Police were contacted and they noticed a smell of alcohol when talking to Wood.
The court heard he had attempted to move his car in the car park.
He admitted driving on October 3 with excess alcohol (58 mics/ 22).
Sheriff Gillian Wade told the first time offender: “You are aware that this was a serious offence and could have had far more severe consequences had you gone on to cause an accident.”
Wood, of Muir Park Road, was fined £1,000 and banned from driving for a year.
If he completes a drink-drive rehabilitation course, his ban will be reduced by a quarter.
Road rage
Road rage driver Callum Fletcher has been ordered to pay compensation to an elderly couple after he “lost his cool” on a busy Kinross-shire road. He snapped after being honked at by a 78-year-old motorist on the A977 and pulled over and launched into a foul-mouthed tirade against the driver and his 75-year-old wife.
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