A 33-year-old man has admitted downloading indecent images of children from his home in Dundee.
Reports have been ordered after Steven Middleton pled guilty to acquiring the vile material.
Middleton admitted taking or permitting to be taken indecent images of children at an address on Atholl Street between November 25 and 29 2021.
At Dundee Sheriff Court, sentence was deferred until April by Sheriff Derek Reekie in order for social work reports to be obtained.
Fatal dog attack
XL Bully owner Bryan Laird, 31, from Dundee, was cleared by a court after his pet attacked and killed a terrier on a Blairgowrie housing estate last year Perth’s Justice of the Peace Court heard how workmen hit the XL Bully with a fence post in a desperate attempt to force it to let go. Mr Laird was found not to be culpable over the fatal attack.
Flaky customer
A man who threatened staff at a popular Perthshire bakery has been electronically tagged.
Nigel Murray admitted causing a commotion at Sugar and Spice in Auchterarder on August 21 last year.
The 55-year-old, from Blackford, was challenged by employees when he walked into the premises at 8.20am, Perth Sherifff Court heard.
Fiscal depute Duncan McKenzie said: “He was told he was barred from the bakery and would not be served.”
Murray erupted and began shouting and swearing.
He called one staff member a “specky b******” and said: “I’m going to break your jaw.”
“The accused was asked to leave or the police would be called,” said Mr McKenzie.
Murray shouted “old c***” and walked out onto the street, continuing to yell obscenities.
Sheriff Jennifer Bain told Murray: “I take account of your mental health difficulties and the positive steps you’ve taken” and imposed a four-month restriction of liberty order, banning Murray from leaving his Ogilvie Road property between 7pm and 7am.
Stamp attack
The victim of a vicious stamp attack outside a Fife pub will receive £7,500 in compensation from plumber Ewan McLean, who committed the assault. He had followed the man from a Kirkcaldy bar, knocked him down and stamped on and kicked his head.
Banned from town
A convicted sex offender who repeatedly harassed his ex-partner has been banned from entering Tayport ahead of sentencing.
Anthony McGerty admitted engaging in an abusive course of conduct towards the woman between January 1 and February 29 this year on Nelson Street in the Fife town.
Reports have been ordered after McGerty pled guilty from custody at Dundee Sheriff Court.
He admitted causing the woman fear and alarm by repeatedly phoning her, emailing her, sending her letters as well as sending her gifts and parcels.
McGerty, of Afton Court in Ayr, was previously hit with a jail term for child sex offences in Ayrshire in 2015 and 2016.
Sheriff John Rafferty deferred sentence until April and released McGerty on bail with a condition not to enter Tayport.
Snared by decoys
A creep from Dundee made sexual remarks to what he thought were two underage girls before being caught by “paedophile hunters”. Raymond Tait, 48, joked he was old enough the father of one of the decoys before it was revealed he had actually been speaking to two adults.
Murderer death probe
A murderer who died in HMP Perth was found to have died of liver failure.
Alexander Wilson was jailed for life at Glasgow High Court after attacking Thomas Taylor, 40, in the Renton, West Dunbartonshire, in 2007.
The convicted killer died after being rushed from the Edinburgh Road jail to hospital in December 2021.
A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the 53-year-old’s death showed no systematic failings or inaction were to blame.
Between around 1997 and 2000, Wilson was diagnosed as suffering from chronic viral Hepatatis C.
Three years after his conviction, he received further treatment for the condition.
In the following year, he was diagnosed as suffering from likely cirrhosis of the liver and on May 2021, blood tests disclosed Wilson’s liver function had worsened.
He was admitted to hospital as an inpatient three times that October.
His liver function had deteriorated to the extent a transplant was required but his past medical history, which included drug misuse, precluded such treatment.
He was admitted to hospital as an inpatient three more times in November 2021.
During the second of those admissions, he was advised his condition was terminal.
On December 12 2021 at around 8am, he fell out of bed and reported he could not feel his legs.
Despite appearing to initially recover after nursing staff assessed him in his cell, he relapsed and was rushed to Ninewells.
Shortly before 1pm the following day, he was pronounced dead.
A post-mortem showed Wilson’s death was caused by end-stage liver failure, liver cirrhosis and previous Hepatitis C infection.
The FAI held at Dundee Sheriff Court before Sheriff Gregor Murray found no precautions could reasonably have been taken which might realistically have avoided Mr Wilson’s death and no defects in any system of working contributed to his death.
For more local court content visit our dedicated page or join us on Facebook.
