A woman who swindled £1,750 worth of bus travel by using her dead grandmother’s free bus pass has been fined £225.
Kellyann Miller, 39, from Ladybank, appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to plead guilty to the fraud, committed between July 31 2020 and May 19 2021.
Locations given in the charge include Glenrothes bus station, Cupar railway station and Crossgate in Cupar, South Street in St Andrews and elsewhere.
The charge says she pretended to various officials and employees of Transport Scotland, Stagecoach East Scotland, and Moffat & Williamson she was her deceased grandmother and presented her gran’s National Entitlement Card, inducing them to provide her with free bus travel.
Meat cleaver chase
An architect from Broughty Ferry chased a child with a meat cleaver and left his wife severely injured after a violent attack. Colin Doig, 56, is awaiting sentencing after he admitted carrying out the wine-fuelled rampage at an address in Dundee in 2022.
Crime spree
Three pubs, a car wash and a convenience store were raided by crooks during a Dundee crime spree.
John McGrandle, 31, and Darren Jackson admitted multiple thefts between May and June 2022.
A black BMW car was stolen from the IMO car wash on May 20 2022 by McGrandle after he broke into the premises on Clepington Road.
He also made off with a till and cash.
On June 14, McGrandle forced his way into the Spar on Glamis Road to steal cigarettes, a bag and its contents, a note safe, a storage box, baskets and a wedding invitation.
McGrandle, a prisoner at HMP Addiewell, also pled guilty at Dundee Sheriff Court to breaking into a woman’s home on Hebrides Drive.
A television, tools, a vape, mobile phones, tablets, a laptop, keys, glasses, a passport, a medication box, electrical items, a bank card and paperwork were all stolen.
Perth prisoner Jackson, also 31, admitted stealing two safes and cash from the Powrie Bar, Cheviot Crescent, on June 5 2022 after breaking in.
Six days later, he forced his way into the Dolphin Bar in Fintry and stole cash and an orange bucket.
Two cash boxes were also stolen from the Post Office Bar on Broughty Ferry’s Queen Street on June 15 2022 by Jackson, who again broke into the premises.
Both men pled guilty to the offences when they appeared from custody and sentence was deferred for reports and a written narrative to be prepared.
Street Valium dealer
John Wallace was locked up after being found guilty of being involved in dealing etizolam – street Valium – from an address in Kelty. The 48-year-old, along with Nikola Walker, 43, were convicted of being concerned in the supply of the drug.
Found guilty
Connor Teszke, 23, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in Dysart.
He had denied the offence during a trial at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court but was convicted of touching his victim’s breast under her clothing on March 18 this year.
The court heard that the assault took place on a bed.
A witness told the trial he saw Teszke put his arm round the woman and move his hand towards her top.
He said the woman later told him that Teszke “touched me up while I was sleeping”.
Sheriff Mark Allan said although there were some inconsistencies between the accounts given in court by the woman and the witness, they were “minor” and “peripheral to the main action”.
The sheriff said both Crown witnesses were believable and convicted Teszke.
Sentence was deferred to May 20 and Teszke, of Kirkcaldy, was remanded and placed on the Sex Offenders Register meantime.
He previously pled guilty to two shoplifting offences at an Aldi store in the town’s Ferrard Road on March 21 and 22 this year, stealing groceries with a combined value of £13.82.
Spit shame
A drunken thug who spat on a manager at an Angus bookmakers has narrowly avoided a prison sentence. Ivan Cosmin, 29, claimed to have little memory of his outburst at Ladbrokes on High Street, Arbroath in May 2022.
Slap
A boyfriend who slapped his partner during an argument has been ordered to carry out 70 hours unpaid work.
Khalib Gibreel appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted striking his girlfriend across the face in a property in the Muirton area on October 13 last year.
Solicitor Paul Ralph, defending, said his client could not remember what the argument was about but said he struck his partner after she pulled at his T-shirt.
As well as imposing a community payback order, Sheriff Clare McLaughlan ordered Gibreel to stay away from his victim as part of a year-long non-harassment order.
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