A Stobswell DJ subjected his former partner to a night of abuse.
Ronald Sinclair was chided by Sheriff Gregor Murray who told him to “take his hands out his pockets” as he was sentenced at Dundee Sheriff Court.
The court heard Sinclair, 38, put a knife to his throat and threatened to kill himself following an argument with his ex-girlfriend.
He admitted placing her in a state of fear and alarm after grabbing her by the body and throwing her on the floor, before waving the knife at her, on November 26 last year.
Sheriff Gregor Murray said: “It is with considerable reluctance I will defer sentence for a further three months.
“I will call for more reports, which will confirm to me you have been engaging with social work and mental health professionals and that you have not offended again.
“If you do not comply with this I will have no alternative but to send you to jail.”
Sinclair, of Strathmore Street, admitted acting in a threatening and abusive manner toward his former partner at an address in Dundee on November 26 2023.
Animal neglect ban
A retired farmer has been banned from keeping animals after he admitted exposing pigs and cattle to unsanitary conditions at two tumbledown farms in Perthshire. Landowner Iain Grindlay, 79, kept his livestock in horrific conditions near Aberfeldy, surrounded by dead animals, commercial waste and broken down vehicles.
XL Bully trial
A Dundee man will stand trial next month, accused of allowing an XL Bully to attack and kill a Blairgowrie man’s pet dog.
Bryan Laird faces allegations that he was in charge of the animal when it apparently savaged a mix-breed Spanish terrier called Bonnie in Newhill Way on February 20 last year.
Laird, 31, is accused of permitting the XL Bully to seize Bonnie by the body with its mouth, compress her body and refuse to release her.
Prosecutors claim as a result, Bonnie died from her injuries.
Laird, of Lansdowne Square, did not appear at Perth’s Justice of the Peace Court when his case called but his solicitor confirmed a not guilty plea.
A trial was set for March 5, with an intermediate hearing in February.
Knife killer
A woman has admitted stabbing to death her care worker in Stirling. Kellyanne McNaughton killed Michele Rutherford last March 7 after failed attempts to get the 33-year-old psychiatric help. She pled guilty to culpable homicide on the basis of diminished responsibility.
Four appear after ‘£2.25 million seizure’
Four men have been remanded in custody after appearing in court charged with running cannabis farms in Dundee.
Xaulino Mataj, 31, and Vilson Bilo, 29, appeared from custody in private.
They were charged with both producing cannabis and being concerned in the supply of the Class B drug at a property in Lorne Street on January 8.
On a separate petition, Adiol Hila, 36, and Indrit Saraci, 26, appeared in private from custody.
It is alleged they produced cannabis and had been concerned in its supply at a flat in the city’s Ash Street, also on January 8.
All four men were listed as being of no fixed abode and required the services of an Albanian translator in the dock at Dundee Sheriff Court.
None of the men tendered any plea and each was remanded in custody by Sheriff John MacRitchie.
Death row appeal fails
James Murdoch, 66, from Braco has failed in a legal bid to stop the destruction of his “dangerous” American bulldog, which attacked pets in two unprovoked attacks. Storm had already been served with a dog control notice in January 2022 when it attacked a second animal, closing its jaws around its head and injuring its owner.
Locked up
A repeat domestic abuser unsuccessfully pled with a sheriff not to be sent to prison after failing to attend social work appointments.
William Torrance, 22, begged Sheriff Gregor Murray not to be jailed but the judge said he had been left with no option because the accused “could not be trusted”.
The Anstruther man is awaiting sentencing for a number of convictions, all involving the abuse of his ex-partner and failing to appear for court dates.
He also breach undertaking conditions imposed by police ordering him not to contact his former-partner.
In January last year, at an address in St Monans, Torrance repeatedly shouted and swore at his ex-girlfriend, before seizing her by the body and dragging her into a house.
After being given an undertaking to appear at Dundee Sheriff Court on February 16, he failed to do so.
On May 12, he contacted his ex-partner, despite his undertaking conditions instructing him not to do so.
On September 18 last year, he assaulted her by pushing her on the body, causing her to fall to the ground, then sitting on her, while on two bail orders.
Torrance was ordered to attend two social work appointments to help inform sentencing, which he failed to do.
He claimed to have shown up to the appointment a day later than scheduled, although there was no record recorded by social workers.
Remanding Torrance, of Cunzie Street, Anstruther, Sheriff Murray deferred sentence at Dundee Sheriff Court to January 31.
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