A Dundonian had such a boozy Christmas he was still over the limit over the limit while driving on Boxing Day afternoon.
Michael Johnstone, 32, of Strips of Craigie Road, appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court to admit driving with excess alcohol (86mgs/ 67) on December 26 2023.
Officers were called to Kellas Road in Wellbank at 4.15pm due to him being parked on the pavement, apparently under the influence.
Solicitor Jim Laverty said: “There had been celebrations on Christmas Day.
“Perhaps those celebrations had gone on a little too long and he had miscalculated the alcohol that was still within his body.”
Johnstone was fined £260 and banned from driving for a year.
Wedgie woes
An offender who once performed a near-three-hour sex act on a Ring doorbell was cleared of pleasuring himself in front of a teenager on a busy bus to Dundee after he told a court he was just fixing a “wedgie”. Neil Beattie was found not guilty of touching himself indecently while maintaining eye contact with the 18-year-old on a Stagecoach bus from Arbroath.
Sleeper hold terror
Domestic thug John Tierney, 36, has been jailed for 30 months for putting his girlfriend in a sleeper hold until she passed out.
He said he was “only mucking about” when he seized his victim’s neck in her Dundee home, causing her to fall unconscious for several minutes.
He pled guilty to engaging in a course of abusive behaviour between March 1 and August 31 2023 and was told at Perth Sheriff Court he was lucky he was not facing a murder charge.
As well as the choke attack, he accessed his then-partner’s bank account without her permission, threatened to kill her and demanded money from her.
Hiss lawyer described the relationship as “volatile” and said “he states it was more of a tit-for-tat situation but that is not correct because it was very much one-sided”.
Tierney breached bail conditions three times and assaulted a police officer by attempting to headbutt him on November 11 2023 when he returned to his ex’s home.
He also admitted possessing air weapons on July 3 2023.
Sheriff Alison McKay told Tierney: “I am absolutely satisfied there is no alternative to a custodial sentence.”
He will be supervised for a year on release and must not make any attempt to contact or approach his ex as part of a five year non-harassment order.
Actor admonished
A River City actor who punched and spat on a woman in a Dundee social club has been spared punishment. Brian Leys was previously found guilty of assaulting Shannon Devine on May 1 2022 at the Fairmuir Social Club.
Bingo rage
A man threw a cup of gin over his wife after losing at bingo on his phone.
James Glynn, 57, of Balbedie Avenue, Lochore, previously pled guilty to domestically assaulting the woman by throwing liquid at her at an address in Rae Street, Cowdenbeath, on June 8 this year and appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court for sentencing.
Prosecutor Isma Mukhtar told the court the couple had been married for three years and were both drinking alcohol at their home, playing bingo on their phones.
The fiscal depute said: “He became frustrated about losing at bingo and threw a cup of gin over the complainer while she was in the kitchen.”
Defence lawyer Stephen Morrison noted Glynn has one previous conviction for behaving in a threatening or abusive manner towards the same woman, an offence for which he was admonished.
The solicitor said he understands the marriage continues and the complainer was in court lending support.
Sheriff Krista Johnston gave Glynn a 12-week structured deferred sentence.
Hit child with van
Fife drink-driver Stuart Hunter was six times the limit when he mounted a pavement in his van and hit a schoolchild. He tried to drive on but struck several vehicles before being apprehended. He admitted drink-driving but as not guilty of dangerous driving.
‘Taken advantage of’
A teenage drug-dealer snared when police were called to a rowdy party at his Perth flat had been “taken advantage of by others,” a court has heard.
Ciaran Ramsay bolted from officers when they raided his home in Doocot Court.
Cocaine worth nearly £14,000 was recovered from the property and the 20-year-old appeared at Perth Sheriff Court to admit being concerned in its supply.
The court heard how an anonymous member of the public contacted police at 10pm about an ongoing party and drug-dealing at the address.
Solicitor David Holmes, defending, said: “This was a young man who had a place in Perth.
“Word quickly spread about his new address. It’s fair to say he was taken advantage of by others.”
Ramsay was placed on a structured deferred sentence and told to engage with the Right Track programme for young offenders and do unpaid work before a review in February.
Knives and hockey stick
A lout clutching two knives threatened to kill his partner as she sought help from a neighbour. Shouting Callum Fyall also swung a hockey stick during the chaotic incident in a Cupar flat block.
Contrition in the dock
Forfar man Norman Low has been sentenced to 225 hours unpaid work for a violent late-night altercation with police.
At Forfar Sheriff Court, the 52-year-old, of Manor Court, pled guilty to three offences carried out at Weavers Close in Arbroath – police assault, threatening or abusive behaviour and resisting arrest – at around 1.30am on April 26 this year.
Low admitted attacking a PC by lunging at him and attempting to strike him with a glass or similar item and while being arrested, he pushed officers, struggled violently and attempted to prevent handcuffs and fast straps being applied.
He shouted, conducted himself in an aggressive manner, caused damage to household items and brandished a glass.
His solicitor Billy Rennie labelled the offending an “unsavoury series of events” which were “a little bit out of character.”
While leaving the dock, Low said: “Can I say sorry, I’m ashamed of myself.”
£2.4 million cocaine bust
A multi-million pound cocaine courier caught in Dundee has been jailed for five years. Dylan Nicol was pursued by police from the city’s outskirts, reaching up to 120mph, and even kept driving after stinger device punctured his tyres. When he was eventually brought to a stop, officers discovered £2.4 million of the deadly Class-A drug in his car.
Sick, then crashed
A 28-year-old Dunfermline driver crashed into a parked van in the early hours then told police he had been feeling “a wee bit dizzy”.
Jared Burnett is said to have been physically sick out of his Volkswagen Golf window and lost concentration before the collision on Queensferry Road, Rosyth, on January 2 this year.
Burnett, of Mercer Place, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court to plead guilty to an amended charge of careless driving – failing to control the car, swerving across the road and colliding with a parked Ford Transit van.
Prosecutor Eve McKaig told the court the van driver was woken by a loud crash at 2.10am and saw the crashed vehicles.
He opened the door to see Burnett in the driver seat and took the keys from him.
The fiscal depute said Burnett indicated he was tired and later told police he had started feeling unwell at the wheel and “basically felt a wee bit dizzy”.
Defence lawyer Chris Sneddon said Burnett was tested at the roadside and there were no issues.
His client had opened a widow and was sick, which took his attention off driving and he crashed.
Sheriff Mark O’Hanlon imposed five penalty points and a £400 fine, telling Burnett it was a “momentary lapse” and he should have stopped the vehicle.
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