A former nurse admitted growing cannabis at his Arbroath home to aid his arthritis.
Retail worker Kevin Bruce, 58, appeared in the dock at Forfar Sheriff Court to admit producing the Class B drug.
Bruce, of Russell Square, admitted the drugs were his when police arrived at his home on June 2 last year.
Officers uncovered drugs worth £327.
Solicitor Billy Rennie said his client was self-medicating .
He said: “He’s quite candid in relation to his cannabis use.
“He’s had arthritic problems and some mental health problems and his view to a certain degree is that use has helped give him stability.
“This has brought home to him that this sort of use of cannabis is still very clearly illegal and frowned upon by the court.”
Mr Rennie said his client had been a registered nurse for four years and had worked in mental health counselling.
Sheriff Mark Thorley deferred sentencing until June 8 for a social work report.
Puppy breeder’s neglect
The prosecution of a puppy dealer who operated from a cottage in Glenalmond, near Perth successfully concluded when Daanyaal Chowdhury pled guilty to animal neglect charges. The full story of how his crimes came to light can be told for the first time.
Angus smash
A motorist seriously injured the driver of another car he struck in a head-on collision during an overtake on the A92 in Angus.
Gary Quigley was not present in Forfar Sheriff Court when his guilty plea to causing serious injury by driving carelessly was accepted.
On October 17, Quigley overtook another road user on the single carriageway near Lunan.
While on the opposing side of the carriageway, his car collided with another coming in the opposite direction.
It’s driver and 56-year-old Quigley were both taken to Ninewells hospital with “serious” injuries.
Both vehicles sustained “extensive damage.”
The road was closed at Inverkeilor for almost three hours and traffic was diverted.
Sentence was deferred for Quigley, of Arbroath’s High Street, to be personally present.
A90 song and dance
A drink-driver from Scone who was more than four-and-a-half times the limit pulled over and started singing and dancing in the middle of the A90. Deborah Millar was seen driving her Fiat Punto in an “erratic” manner, before pulling into a layby. A court heard she had been drinking with someone she met on the internet before becoming afraid and leaving in her car.
Angus smash 2
A woman who carelessly pulled onto a dual carriageway in Angus hospitalised the driver and passenger of a van she struck.
Amanda McMurchie, 41, pled guilty in absentia to careless driving at Forfar Sheriff Court.
At around 3pm on October 26 last year, McMurchie, of Bractullo Gardens in Letham, caused the collision on the A90 at its junction with the A932.
She failed to keep a proper lookout at the junction and drove out from the central filter lane, colliding with a van.
Its driver and passenger were taken to Ninewells by ambulance to have their “serious” injuries treated.
The van and McMurchie’s car both sustained “extensive damage.”
The A90 was restricted and the slip road closed as a result, causing tailbacks in the area.
Sheriff Mark Thorley deferred sentencing for McMurchie to be personally present on May 25.
Fatal accident
A service engineer was crushed to death beneath a supermarket lift in Perth after removing a “bung” in its hydraulics while underneath it, a fatal accident inquiry has heard. Former soldier Kenneth Heron, 51, had been carrying out routine maintenance on the lift in a storeroom at the Co-Op store in Main Street, Bridgend in 2019.
Morning-after miscalculation
A retired offshore chemist has been disqualified from driving after being caught over the limit the morning after a night of drinking.
Jeffrey Russell’s 4×4 was pulled over by police at 9.50am on August 28 last year, having received information he may be over the limit.
He failed the roadside breath test and was taken to West Bell Street HQ when he returned a reading of 37 mics – above the limit of 22.
Solicitor Nick Whelan told Forfar Sheriff Court his client had been drinking the night before and miscalculated when he would be safe to drive.
He said: “He was quite surprised at the reading.”
The 59-year-old first offender, of Noran Avenue in Arbroath, admitted drink-driving and was fined £470 and banned for a year.
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