A groom who ended his wedding night clashing with police has been cleared of further criminal conduct after sending his new husband a flurry of unwanted Whatsapp messages.
David Halkett was ditched by partner Rodrigo Caetano just hours after tying the knot.
He told him the relationship had been a sham all along, Perth Sheriff Court previously heard.
Halkett was sentenced to unpaid work in August last year after he admitted being abusive to police who were called to his reception at the Green Hotel, Kinross.
The 47-year-old returned to the dock at Perth Sheriff Court accused of sending his husband – they are still married – repeated messages “for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety” between August 11 and October 24 2022.
Halkett, of Kinross, denied the charge.
Mr Caetano told the court the messages were not abusive, but “weren’t friendly”.
One asked: “Are you still my husband?”
He said, after the relationship broke down, he met Halkett in Tesco, Perth, and asked him to stop messaging him.
Solicitor Linda Clark, defending, argued Halkett’s conduct was not unreasonable but was an attempt to find out the status of their relationship.
Sheriff Grant McCulloch told Halkett: “I am satisfied from the evidence that this does not amount to the commission of a crime.”
He found him not guilty.
Selfie to vulnerable child
A Dundee police officer sent a naked selfie to a vulnerable 12-year-old boy on Snapchat. Cameron Fraser, then 26, sent images of himself holding his private parts and wearing a police uniform to the child, Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard. Police Scotland said gross misconduct proceedings have been initiated.
Court ‘fisticuffs’
A man has been fined after punching a stranger in the face in the foyer of Dunfermline Sheriff Court.
In the dock in the same building, Paul Carr admitted injuring James Guthrie last year.
Fiscal depute Lauren Pennycook said: “On the morning of April 27, Mr Carr has attended here, as well as Mr Guthrie.
“They’ve both been in the reception area at about 12.30pm.
“They began arguing and Mr Guthrie has begun to walk away when Mr Carr has then punched Mr Guthrie to the face.”
Mr Guthrie suffered bruising around his mouth and a cut top lip.
Lawyer Zander Flett said the men were unknown to each other and Carr lost his temper following a remark about his late brother.
48-year-old Carr, of Martin Crescent in Ballingry was fined £250 by Sheriff Grant McCulloch, plus a £20 victim surcharge.
The sheriff said: “The foyer of the court is not a place to engage in fisticuffs, shouting matches or whatever.”
Charity swindler
Charity boss Violet Connor, 67, stole £40,000 from vulnerable Fife residents. She made excessive cash withdrawals from the personal bank accounts of service users at Sense Scotland and falsified the books over a period of more than three years, swindling 10 residents at two of the charity’s facilities.
Unpaid work for rapper
A Dundee rapper caught dealing cannabis for a second time has been given unpaid work.
Christopher Sharp – who performs under the name Sherps – was also caught with a cannister of CS spray following a raid on his former home in Dundee.
The city’s sheriff court heard how entry was forced to the property while Sharp was not in and detectives found £1,035 in a microwave.
Prosecutor Andrew Harding said: “A CS gas canister was found on top of a cupboard.
“They recovered a quantity of herbal matter, which was found to be cannabis with a potential street value of £7,630.”
The 35-year-old, of Longtown Road, Dundee, admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis at his former home in the city June 29 2021 and possessing the CS cannister.
In 2021, Sharp admitted threatening to slash the throats of children as well as dealing the Class B drug.
He was placed on an unpaid work order consisting of 270 hours of unpaid work.
Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith lamented the lack of information provided in the court narrative and said that as a result, he would have to treat Sharp as playing a lesser role in the supply of drugs.
Sharp was ordered to perform 216 hours of unpaid work as an alternative to a prison sentence.
Sharp emerged in the Scottish drill rap scene in 2021 and said his music was inspired by experiencing homelessness and has acted as a form of therapy to cope with bereavements.
Wrong robber
A robbery suspect attacked an off-duty police officer and gouged his eye as they grappled on the floor of a Perth newsagents. Believing a robbery was in progress, the officer grabbed Kieran O’Connor but he was overpowered and thrown him to the ground, where the accused repeatedly struck his head and gouged him with his thumb.
Couple of beers
Connor Logan, 27, a workshop operator from Balfour Street, Kirkcaldy, has been fined £600 and banned from the road for a year after admitting drink-driving (41mics/ 22).
Logan appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to plead guilty to drink-driving a BMW on Hendry Road on May 6 this year.
Prosecutor Eve McKaig said when Logan was stopped he admitted being under the influence and said he had drunk “a couple of beers” earlier.
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