A drunken Forfar barista has been fined after attacking police who found her intoxicated in Glamis.
Officers arrived at a cottage in the village at 4.20am on August 19 last year to find first offender Katie Valentine outside.
After shouting at police, she threw herself to the floor, then kicked a male officer on the leg and head before being placed in a police vehicle.
En route to West Bell Street HQ, she admitted she acted in a threatening or abusive manner by repeatedly shouting, swearing and screaming.
Valentine, of Lowson Terrace in Forfar, was fined £400, plus a £20 victim surcharge.
Her solicitor John Boyle said Valentine, 25, was on medication at the time and had taken alcohol as well.
She has been abstinent since the “out of character” incident, he said.
Banker targeted widower
A heartless Dundee banker swindled a widower with dementia in an £18,000 fraud to clear his own debts. Stephen Barr told police he deliberately targeted 81-year-old Douglas Crumley – who has since died – because of his confused state.
Break-in bid
A man who tried to smash his way into a home in Methil has been jailed for eight months.
David Michie was brought from prison to Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to admit the attempted housebreaking with intent to steal.
Just before 1am on June 20 this year, he woke a woman who was asleep inside the property in Glenthorne Road by thumping her window.
She initially thought it was her husband returning from a night shift but spotted Michie, 40, pacing back and forward between her house and her gate.
Police were contacted but by the time they arrived, Michie had broken into his own home on Whyte Rose Terrace.
He told officers: “It wasn’t me,” but in court, pled guilty to the attempted break-in.
The outer pane of the woman’s window was smashed.
Solicitor Calum Harris said his client has a diagnosis of PTSD and had been under the influence of alcohol and Valium at the time of the offence.
Jailing Michie, Sheriff Mark Allan said: “You have a significant record for this type of offending.”
Smash and grab
A bogus gardener smashed his way into a customer’s home and stole a Playstation games console weeks after carrying out work at the Dundee property. Brazen Sean Townsley, 38, forced his way through a glass panel in a kitchen before the horrified resident saw him flee the scene with a PlayStation 5 and a gold briefcase.
Bail breach climb
Montrose bail breacher Kevin Halliday was caught trying to evade police by clambering into an attic.
He was spotted mid-ascent at the Charleton Place property on May 12 this year when he was apprehended by officers.
Fiscal depute Duncan MacKenzie told Forfar Sheriff Court police had received an anonymous tip-off Halliday, of Glenclova Place in Montrose, was in the company of his partner, defying bail conditions.
He subsequently spent the night in police custody.
After the substantive matter to which the bail order was attached was deserted in court, the 52-year-old was admonished in relation to the breach.
Sheriff David Hall told him: “You’ve been out of trouble for 10 years. You had a night in custody.
“You shouldn’t have been there, as was shown by you climbing into the attic when police arrived.”
Councillor caught
Former Stirling Council councillor Ewan Dillon, caught with a hoard of child abuse material, has been ordered to perform unpaid work. Dillon, 21, was the independent member for Dunblane and Bridge of Allan and pled guilty last month at Stirling Sheriff Court.
Flipping the script
A Fife teenager has been blasted by a sheriff for “flipping the script” and trying to accuse his “slight, 16-year-old” partner of attacking him.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted of a domestic assault at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court following a trial before Sheriff Mark Allan.
He was found guilty of repeatedly slapping the teenaged girl on the face, pursuing her to another room, seizing her by the neck and body and punching her, all while on two bail orders.
The boy told the trial he had been the one attacked at the property in Glenrothes on May 30 this year and had been pinned down by the girl – who had to text a friend to come to her aid.
Sheriff Allan deferred sentencing for reports and for him to be sentenced alongside other outstanding matters.
He said: “No wonder you gave such a confusing, incoherent and unconvincing (explanation) of how this slight 16-year-old had you incapacitated.
“No wonder you struggled – I didn’t believe one word of it, not a word.
“You used the phrase flipping the script – that’s what you tried to do.
“It is beyond troubling that someone of your age now stands convicted of – I’ll call it what it is – domestic violence.
“It’s becoming increasingly evident that you have a problem, an issue that the court requires to address.
“It seems to me that you are a person who requires some assistance in relation to your attitudes.”
The teenager will be sentenced next month on the day before his 18th birthday.
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