A man banned from entering Dundee spent 40 days on remand after failing to adhere to his bail conditions.
Riyaz Amin Ali, 42, appeared from custody at the Sheriff Court, where he admitted the breach by returning to the city.
Ali, of Kirkton Avenue, Glasgow, was admonished after his solicitor pointed out the time he had spent in prison and that he claimed to have “reasonable excuse”.
Shocker
Darren Petrie, 35, from Dundee admitted repeatedly shocking a homeless accommodation “bully” with a stun gun on the city’s Sugarhouse Wynd. He then shocked the friend who had originally complained and then used the weapon on himself.
Voicemail abuse
A man told his partner she was a “loser” and “couldn’t manage a day without him” in a series of nasty voicemail messages.
Blake Priestley, 29, of Cluny Park in Cardenden, admitted sending voicemails which were grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character by making derogatory remarks and threatening the woman.
The offending, aggravated by abuse of an ex-partner, took place between June 2021 and June 2022 in Dunfermline’s Nith Street.
Procurator fiscal depute Azrah Yousaf told Dunfermline Sheriff Court the woman received about eight voicemails of an abusive nature from Priestley’s phone and WhatsApp messages of a similar nature.
Defence lawyer Elaine Buist said Priestley stated the contact with the woman was largely when arranging child contact and that he became frustrated.
Sheriff Susan Duff deferred sentence until April 26 for the production of background reports.
Scales of justice
A compulsive Dundee motorist who has been banned from the road 24 times was advised by a sheriff to imagine car steering wheels are snakes. Sheriff George Way offered the unconventional advice to Alan Scott after imposing a seventh life ban upon him.
Photo dispute
A 42-year-old man has been cleared after trial of assaulting a teenage boy who claimed he put him in a headlock after getting angry about “looking gay” in a photograph.
Andrew Scrimshaw was accused of seizing and compressing the teenager’s neck and restricting his breathing at a property in Dunfermline on June 18 2021.
The boy told the trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court he took a photo on Snapchat and showed the “funny picture” to Scrimshaw.
The boy said: “He said it made him look gay. He was not happy about that.”
The teenager said this led to an argument about sexuality.
He said he went to a bathroom and was followed into the kitchen by Scrimshaw who, he said, “put me in a headlock”.
The teenager claimed Scrimshaw put his arm around his neck so that he could “barely breathe” and struggled to speak.
Another witness described him being in a “full blown panic attack” and having a red neck after the alleged attack.
Scrimshaw, a pupil support assistant for three to five-year-olds, of Keir Hardie Terrace, Dunfermline, strenuously denied assaulting the boy and any photograph being taken.
He told the trial they argued about use of pronouns and it became heated.
In his closing submission, defence lawyer Calum Harris pointed out police were not contacted by anyone at the scene but only days later by someone in a mental health team.
Sheriff Craig McSherry found Scrimshaw not guilty and referred to this lack of police contact in his pre-verdict remarks.
The sheriff said he was also concerned by the evidence given by a woman who claimed to have witnessed the incident and showed “some considerable animosity” towards Scrimshaw, which affected the quality of her evidence.
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