A farm worker who berated his wife in public, slapped her so hard she fell off a wall and then dragged her back by the hair so he could continue shouting at her has escaped punishment.
Horrified witnesses called police when they saw the disturbing scene unfold before them on Perth’s Dunkeld Road on June 29 last year.
Asen Manolov, 39, then of Errol, appeared at the city’s sheriff court in August last year and admitted the assault.
He said they had been arguing after their son had been arrested in their homeland of Bulgaria.
He pled guilty to assaulting his wife and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by repeatedly shouting at her.
Sentence was deferred until this week for Manolov to prove he can stay out of trouble but he was not at court because he has moved back to Bulgaria after problems with his employment.
His wife told prosecutors she did not want the court to issue a non-harassment order
Sheriff David Hall admonished him after hearing he had been of good behaviour since the incident.
Hotel boss hardship
The boss of a multi-million pound travel firm has avoided a driving ban after he argued his business and its 200-strong workforce would suffer if he lost his licence. James O’Neil, 58, who runs Edinburgh-based Blackpool Promotions and operates four hotels, successfully claimed “exceptional hardship” to avoid disqualification under the totting-up procedure.
Coronation costs Kelly
A Forfar addict who missed her Saturday methadone appointment by three minutes breached bail orders to steal from Home Bargains so she could buy more on the street.
The town’s sheriff court heard Kelly Stewart would not have been able to get to the chemist until Tuesday due to the Coronation bank holiday and became desperate.
The 30-year-old was subject to multiple bail orders when she stole deodorant sets and a handbag worth £50 from the Myre Road shop on May 8.
One of the bail orders specifically banned her from entering the store.
Stewart, of Dundee Loan in Forfar, admitted shoplifting and breaching bail when she appeared from custody.
Solicitor Brian Bell explained the bank holiday meant his client would have to wait another day for her methadone dose.
“She found it difficult to cope. She committed the offence to sell so that she could buy methadone on the street.
Sheriff Garry Sutherland deferred sentencing until May 30.
Care home fined
A prestigious Tayside care home has been fined £21,500 after a vulnerable resident drank a Covid cleaning product left in an unmarked bottle in his bathroom. David Fyfe was 90 when he ingested disinfectant Steri Germ liquid, used in the early days of the pandemic, at Tigh-Na-Muirn care home in Monifieth.
Dunfermline danger
A motorist sped away from police and overtook cars on blind corners in Dunfermline.
Archibald Walker, 52, pled guilty to the July 6 dangerous driving in the city’s sheriff court.
Fiscal depute Amy Robertson said police in a marked car had been instructed to find Walker’s Toyota and signalled for him to pull over when they spotted him.
The fiscal said the Toyota appeared to slow “for a second” at the junction of Elgin Street and Nethertown Broad Street, then “accelerated at speed” through traffic lights onto Limekilns Road.
Ms Robertson said police – with blue lights flashing and sirens sounding – followed the speeding Toyota.
“The accused was also seen to be overtaking other road users on blind corners, almost causing the vehicle to collide with other road users on the opposing side of the road.
“Due to the dangerous manner of driving and the fact they were able to ID him, they were instructed to abandon the pursuit”.
Walker, of McClelland Crescent, Dunfermline, “panicked” according to his lawyer Calum Harris.
The solicitor said his client accepts the driving was “utterly unacceptable” and that perhaps “more by luck than judgement no one else was injured”.
Walker has previous convictions and 10 penalty points on his licence.
Sentence was deferred and he was disqualified in the meantime.
Convicted again, community sentence again
A paedophile given a “direct alternative to custody” for having child abuse videos has been given another community sentence after being caught again. Connor Sangster, 27 was found with another 34 hours of sickening material when he was already working with social workers after the first offence.
Blade brandisher
A Tayport man brandished scissors at two boys in broad daylight outside a newsagents.
Murray Prior, 36, also took the scissors out of his pocket and turned towards the 13 and 14 year olds in a menacing manner on Castle Street in the north Fife town weeks before Christmas last year.
Prior, of Dougall Street, Tayport, admitted three charges involving the blades, committed during a drunken December 14.
Depute fiscal Lynne Mannion told Dundee Sheriff Court Prior had already consumed a bottle of wine when he took to the street, carrying another two bottles.
He shouted a two witnesses in William Street “I will stab you” after they spotted him holding a large black knife and pair of scissors.
Later, he took the scissors from his pocket after approaching the two boys, on scooters outside a newsagents on Castle Street.
When he returned home, he told his mother he was being chased by people who ‘wanted to kill him’.
Police arrived and she told them he appeared to be under the influence of something.
Prior admitted possessing the blades and acting in a threatening and abusive manner.
Sentence was deferred for reports.
Launched glass
A Dundee carer hit a random pub-goer in the head with a glass she had launched at her former boyfriend. Tracey Currie, 35, had aimed a pint of lager in the direction of her then-partner after punching him on the head in the city’s Nether Inn last year.
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