A notorious Scottish killer has been acquitted of stalking two women from behind bars after a blunder by prosecutors meant he was not brought to court in Perth for trial.
Alan Dewar is serving a life sentence for the murder of Inverness teenager Joshua Mitchell.
The 33-year-old was accused of engaging in a course of conduct that caused two women fear or alarm in April 2022, repeatedly contacting them by phone from Perth Prison and making violent threats.
Dewar, who denied the allegation, was due to stand trial at Perth Sheriff Court on Monday.
But the case was deserted after prosecutors mistakenly failed to make arrangements to bring the accused to court.
Acquitting will have no impact on killer
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said: “The accused is a serving prisoner, serving a life sentence.
“It doesn’t really take much imagination to know that he requires to be brought to court but no attempt has been made to do so.”
He said: “It may be that the Crown did not know his whereabouts but that is an investigation that could have been easily undertaken.”
The sheriff added: “I am also of the view that acquitting the accused of this matter is not going to have any effect on him because his sentence was not going to be lengthened.”
He rejected a motion by fiscal depute Lora Apostolova to adjourn the trial to another day, and deserted the case simpliciter, meaning it has been shelved once and for all.
Dewar’s lawyer argued the case was now “of some age,” with the alleged offence almost exactly two years old.
A spokesman for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said: “The decision to desert the case simpliciter was made by the presiding sheriff.”
Victim was ‘in wrong place’
Dewar murdered his 17-year-old neighbour in a drink and drugs-fuelled rage in 2007.
He stabbed Joshua, who had learning difficulties, through the heart because he was “in the wrong place at the wrong time”
Originally locked up for a minimum of 13 years, he had 32 months added to his sentence in 2010 for attacking a fellow Polmont inmate with a pool cue.
In 2022, he had his sentence extended by another eight months following a brawl in HMP Perth’s C Hall.
Dewar battered Fife thug Casey Japp, just weeks after he was jailed for assaulting a teenage girl in Lochgelly.
Six years ago, Joshua’s family campaigned for Dewar to be kept out of Inverness.
For more local court content visit our dedicated page or join us on Facebook.
