A man has appeared in court following an alleged incident at an MSP’s office in Kirkcaldy.
Peter Batten, 54, appeared in private at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on five charges.
He faces three allegations of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, likely to cause a reasonable person fear or alarm.
Batten, whose general address was given in court as Fife, is also accused of breaching bail and a liberation condition.
He made no plea and has been fully committed and remanded in custody.
It is understood the allegations relate to an incident which took place at Kirkcaldy MSP David Torrance’s office last week.
Car criminal
A 14-year-old boy was thrown into the air after being struck by a driver who sped off in a stolen car in Dundee. Two months later, Robin Alcorn led police on a wild, 40-minute chase across rural Perthshire and Angus in another car stolen from the same person.
Tag for killer
A convicted killer caught with cannabis worth thousands of pounds has been placed on a tag.
Steven Robbins previously admitted trying to bankroll a move to England in order to escape from Dundee.
Robbins was jailed for 20 months for the culpable homicide of Ryan Barrie, 39, in March 2020 after a heated argument.
Mr Barrie, a DJ and father-of-one, was hit with a wheelie bin and was found in bushes on Benvie Gardens after banging his head off a fence beam.
On May 2021, police raided Robbins’ home on City Road and found dozens of cannabis plants.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard how he would have sold the Class B drugs to another person for £5,000 but prosecutors believed the value could have quadrupled.
The 37-year-old previously pled guilty to possessing cannabis with the intent to supply.
Solicitor Ross Donnelly said at an earlier hearing: “The intention of getting this money was partly to get away from the local area.
“He struggles with his own emotions in the aftermath of that offence (the killing).”
Sheriff George Way placed Robbins on a restriction of liberty order for eight months, extended to run between 9pm and 7am so he can walk his dog.
Blu-Ray breach
Pervert from Perth Darren Adams, 52, who penned a paedophile manifesto claiming his “community” was being discriminated against has been warned he could be sent to prison for breaching a strict court order by having a Blu-Ray device capable of connecting to the internet.
Unprovoked attack
A violent thug who left a stranger “covered in blood” in an unprovoked attack has been sent to prison for a year.
George Reid provided no reason for pouncing on the innocent victim as he tried to walk home from the Douglas area of Dundee.
The bloodied man staggered into a garden, with residents leaving their homes in the early hours of the morning to assist him.
Reid, 34, was with a group of people when he targeted the man, who was leaving a gathering and did not know the area.
Prosecutor Andrew Harding told Dundee Sheriff Court: “The witness was struck on the back of the head and repeatedly punched and kicked to the head and body by the accused.
“He managed to get to his feet and walk away whilst phoning the other witness.
“During the call, he was assaulted again and escaped behind a parked car on Balunie Avenue. Witnesses heard a disturbance outside.
“They saw the man stagger past the address and enter a garden.
“An ambulance was contacted and the witness said he had been assaulted.
“He was covered in blood with his face swollen.”
Reid, of Thurso Crescent, previously admitted assaulting the man to his severe injury on December 6 2020.
“It’s a serious offence as you know and your record does you know favours,” Sheriff Brown told Reid.
“I am afraid there’s no appropriate alternative to a custodial sentence”.
Compensation
A disgraced former firefighter who tried to touch a woman’s privates while she sat, reading a book, in a Broughty Ferry pub has been ordered to pay compensation to his victim. Joseph Buick will be on the Sex Offenders’ Register for the next five years after being convicted after a trial of sexual assault.
Explorers sentenced
A pair of twin ‘urban explorers’ who forced their way into a boarded-up Dundee bar that had been used as a cannabis farm have been ordered to perform unpaid work.
Craig and Jamie Kane were found guilty of breaking into Alison’s and the McAlpine Lounge on Camperdown Road with the intent to steal.
Police had secured the bar in February 2023 after uncovering a near-£300,000 cannabis cultivation.
Just three days after the building was locked up after the raid, the curious Kane twins were found inside wearing freshly-bought white hard hats and hi-vis jackets.
The pair denied any criminality and said they were sharing details about the building on a Facebook page.
However, Sheriff Paul Brown did not believe their version of events and found them guilty.
Craig Kane, of Tarves Place in Glenrothes and Jamie Kane, of the Fife town’s Milnwood Court, were convicted of committing the offence on February 23 last year.
After returning to court for sentencing, the 36-year-old pair were ordered to perform 150 hours of unpaid work each as a direct alternative to custody.
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