A Kirkcaldy man who “accidently” sent an image of a penis to a “13-year-old girl” has been put on the Sex Offenders Register for a year.
Nicholas Cruden actually sent the image to a member of a paedophile hunting group, who had set up a fake profile.
At Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court Cruden was also placed on a 12-month supervision order after a sheriff ruled the fact the profile was on an adult dating app was a mitigating factor.
Solicitor David Bell, defending, said the accused had not engaged in any conversation that was sexual or even flirtatious until the “out of the blue sending of the picture”.
Cruden, 47, of Templehall Avenue, previously admitted attempting to cause a child to view a sexual image at and address in the village of Dornie between February 1 and 28 2021.
Tot injured during ‘airplanes’ game
A man has admitted fracturing a 14-week-old baby’s femur, clavicle and rib while playing “airplanes” with the boy in Angus. 32-year-old Richard Kennedy appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court to admit culpably and recklessly mishandling the baby on January 3 in 2021, causing the youngster “severe” injuries.
Lord Darren of Windygates
A man who claimed in court to be a claimant to the crown of Scotland is to stand trial accused of flashing his genitals at the window of his Windygates home.
Darren Smith, who introduced himself in court as “Lord Darren Smith of Windygates, son of Gordon”, is accused of public indecency.
Denying the charge, Smith said he was in his own home.
Confirming the address of the property with Smith, Sheriff Timothy Niven-Smith quipped “I take it that’s your ancestral home.”
Smith told the court the “did not trust” Scots Law and stated he wanted to be tried in the International Court of Justice.
He was removed to the cells after becoming abusive, swearing at the sheriff and objecting to the Royal Coat of Arms on the wall behind the bench.
The emblem, which sits behind sheriffs in all courts in Scotland, features a Scottish unicorn and an English lion rampant.
Smith ranted the symbol should feature two unicorns instead.
Smith, of Douglas Terrace, denies committing an offence of public indecency by standing at a window in a state of undress, exposing and holding his naked penis, on September 9 last year.
The case against the 38-year-old was continued for two weeks to ensure he has legal representation.
‘Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy’
A man who chanted “bouncy, bouncy, bouncy” at police officers before challenging them to a fight has been branded “idiotic” by a Perth sheriff. Brendan McKim made the bizarre refrain during a disturbance at his home in Tiree Place, Perth, during Covid restrictions in 2021.
In a spin in Forfar
After a day of evidence, jurors took only 15 minutes to establish a squabble about “six dishtowels” in a tumble drier was not criminal.
David Campbell Smith was acquitted after jurors unanimously agreed he did not act in a manner likely to cause fear or alarm at an Angus laundrette machine more than two years ago.
Forfar Sheriff Court heard evidence 30-year-old Hannah Muir had attended at the laundry machines in the town’s B&M Bargains car park.
She said she used the tumble drier after washing her laundry at home but was confronted by Campbell Smith when she went to collect her items.
The 55-year-old, who lives in sheltered housing at Murray Court in Montrose, told Ms Muir he thought she was “a bit ignorant” for putting items into the only drier when his bedsheets in the adjacent machine had almost finished washing.
Ms Muir said: “I can do what I f***ing like.”
She accused him of gathering saliva in his mouth as though preparing to spit, telling her and her father Crawford, 59, he had coronavirus and saying “I hope you f***ing die.”
However Campbell Smith gave evidence her father called him “a big fat b*****d” and they “filmed” him, laughing as they left in Ms Muir’s Audi.
He was found not guilty of acting in a threatening or abusive manner.
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