A man has appeared in court in connection with an alleged robbery at a Dundee newsagent.
Police were called to reports of an incident at SK News and Desserts shop in the city’s King Street on Monday morning.
James Donaghue appeared in private at Forfar Sheriff Court.
The 42-year-old faces nine charges, including assault and attempted robbery.
It is alleged he behaved in a threatening or abusive manner and had a bladed item.
Donaghue is further charged with attempt robbery, possession of an offensive weapon and attempt to pervert the course of justice.
He also faces an allegation of public indecency.
Donaghue, listed as no fixed abode, made no plea during the petition hearing.
He was remanded in custody and expected to make a second appearance in the same court next week.
Perth rapist locked up
A Perth rapist who targeted three women during a campaign of “controlling, violent and sexually depraved behaviour” spanning more than two decades has been jailed.
Brian McGlashan was convicted of eight charges, including rape and assault, following a trial at Dundee High Court.
The 57-year-old preyed on his victims between 1996 and 2019 at addresses in the Perthshire area.
During one attack, he pushed one woman and held her over the River Tay and threatened her.
He attacked her, leaving her severely injured and scarred for life, the court heard.
McGlashan was sentenced to nine years imprisonment, with a further four on licence.
Teen on register
A Rosyth teenager has been put on the Sex Offenders Register for three years after being caught with vile child abuse photos.
Zack O’Neil appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court for sentencing after earlier pleading guilty to downloading and possessing the indecent images.
The 19-year-old’s offending took place at his Queensferry Road home and elsewhere between January 18 2021 and March 16 2022.
Prosecutor Charlotte Allan told the court that police intelligence suggested indecent images of children being shared via Snapchat by two different accounts.
A search was carried out at O’Neill’s address and officers seized a number of devices.
These were examined and found to have traces of the Snapchat associated email addresses and also indecent images of children of categories A (the most graphic kind), B and C level.
O’Neill was arrested and charged.
The number of these images was not disclosed in court.
Defence lawyer Brian Black said there is a “troubled background” to the offending and that his client is mindful of the serious nature of the offence and would welcome the chance of a community disposal.
Sheriff Mark O’Hanlon sentenced O’Neill to three years of offender supervision, with a requirement to attend the Moving Forward to Change programme, and placed him on the Sex Offenders Register for the same period.
Brothers’ knife fight
A man who knifed his brother during a bloody brawl in the middle of a Dundee street has been ordered to perform unpaid work.
Liam Smith had blood running down his face when an off-duty police officer sprung into action to stop him from attacking his brother Reece in the Douglas area of the city.
His brother was left with a serious injury to his ring finger after being struck with a blade.
Dundee Sheriff Court was told how Smith no longer speaks to his brother and has since taken positive steps to turn his life around.
Abusive messages
A Stirlingshire man has been jailed for almost a year after admitting bombarding his partner with abusive messages over a period of nine months.
Repeat offender Scott Kelly returned to the dock at Stirling Sheriff Court where he was sentenced to eight months behind bars after admitting breaching the Domestic Abuse Scotland Act 2018.
Between August 2023 and May 2024, he repeatedly sent his partner emails, Facebook messages, voice notes and texts which were abusive, threatening or offensive.
Sheriff Derek Hamilton also made a non-harassment order to protect Kelly’s victim.
The 36-year-old, of Burnside in Kippen, also admitted acting in a threatening or abusive manner on December 21 last year at his home by acting aggressively, shouting, swearing and making threats of violence.
Kelly, who has been jailed before, was sentenced to a further three months, to be served consecutively, for this matter.
Fife rapist jailed
A Fife property manager who carried out a horror campaign of physical and sexual abuse against two women has been jailed for eight years.
John Sturgeon preyed on the victims including repeatedly raping both, including one time in Dundee.
The 41 year-old also called them vile names, controlled where they went and interrogated their phones.
Jurors heard he treated one like a “dog or slave” by repeatedly snapping his fingers to immediately attend to him.
Sturgeon denied the accusations during a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
Giving evidence on the day he was due to get married, he claimed the victims were “describing someone he is not”.
But, jurors found him guilty of a total of 10 charges.
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