A Perth gunman who turned up at court with a “TikTok lawyer” has been blasted by a sheriff for “courting media attention.”
Teenager Kenzie Goddard triggered an armed response when he filmed himself outside Perth Prison with an imitation firearm.
The 18-year-old, a failed youth parliament candidate, pled guilty to having a Glock-style BB gun on a service road by the jail on March 14 this year.
He appeared at Perth Sheriff Court accompanied by social media star and self-styled criminal defence advisor Leigh “Lee” Sutherland.
At a previous hearing, the pair shot videos of themselves outside the court.
Goddard, of Castlelaw Crescent, Abernethy, was warned by Sheriff Krista Johnston for having a seemingly “flippant” attitude to the justice process.
Fascinated by police
Prosecutor Bill Kermode said Goddard “appears to have a fascination with police and prison services.”
He said: “This happened on the service road near HMP Perth on Edinburgh Road.
“At around 5.20pm, officers were in a marked patrol car when they saw the accused walking by.
“He appeared to be filming himself using a mobile phone.
“As he passed, police could see the black handle of a gun poking out of his rear pocket.
“They were alarmed by this and alerted their control room.”
Mr Kermode said the officers kept a close eye on Goddard as he walked south along Edinburgh Road.
They then approached and placed him in handcuffs.
The court heard firearms officers were called to the scene.
Goddard was searched and the imitation Glock 19 handgun was recovered, along with pellets.
“Firearms officers attended to make the weapon safe,” Mr Kermode said.
‘Gross immaturity’
Goddard’s actual lawyer, local solicitor Linda Clark said: “The weapon involved is an imitation firearm.
“Although that might not be immediately apparent to anyone approaching from a distance.”
She said: “This smacks of gross immaturity rather than wicked behaviour.
“At the time, he was making videos of himself and posting them on TikTok.
“One of the videos involved this Glock-style weapon.
“Quite why he thought this was an appropriate thing to do beggars belief.”
She said: “He seems to have made this decision ill-advisedly.”
Ms Clark conceded her client “had not covered himself in glory with this offence.”
Sheriff Krista Johnston said: “It seems to be that he’s aware of the problems with social media but instead of being responsible with it he is being entirely irresponsible and that can have an adverse impact on other people of his age.”
She told Goddard: “This is a serious matter.
“I am very concerned by the contents of the social work report, which suggest you have a flippant attitude to these kind of matters.
“You seem to enjoy courting media attention and you seem to use it for ways that are concerning to me.”
Goddard was placed on structured deferred sentence with a review in March.
“It is an opportunity for you to demonstrate to the court that you understand the consequences of behaving in this way,” the sheriff said.
TikTok lawyer
Goddard’s bid to become a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament was short-lived.
He announced his candidacy in October 2023, pledging to support mental health resources and revamp bus services.
But in April, he announced he had been “removed” from the election.
In a statement on Facebook, he said one reason was “for standing up against hateful and attacking comments/messages”.
He said the other was for “offensive” – his quotes – posts on his personal account.
“Myself and many others believe I was wrongly terminated from the MSYP candidacy election process,” he wrote.
When he appeared at Perth Sheriff Court in October to plead guilty to the firearms offence, he was accompanied by TikTok regular Mr Sutherland.
In a post to his 53.7k followers after the hearing, Mr Sutherland said: “Everyone, we managed to continue bail for Kenzie.
“He obviously pled guilty to the case, which I highly advised him to plead guilty to.
“He wanted to continue to trial and plead not guilty.”
In the video shot at the back of the court, Mr Sutherland joked: “Sadly, he’s not going to prison.”
Goddard adds: “Well, it is what it is.
“Lee is one of the best lawyers around. He’s given me the best advice and that’s why I’m free doing what I need to be doing.”
Following Wednesday’s hearing, Mr Sutherland posted a clip of himself leaving the Perth procurator fiscal’s office with Locked Up by Akon as the soundtrack.
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