A Dundee woman appeared in private in the city’s sheriff court accused of attempted murder.
Kathryn Brady, 36, made no plea and was committed for further examination and granted bail
The brief appearance came after what police labelled a “disturbance” in the Dykehead Place area of Stobswell, in Dundee, on December 5 after which a 30-year-old woman was taken to hospital.
Guilty of rapes
A Dundee man is behind bars after being convicted of raping two different women six years apart. Andrew Waghorn, 31, stood trial at the High Court in Dundee and denied the serious sexual assaults but was found guilty by majority and is now locked up and on the sex offenders register ahead of sentencing in the new year.
‘Take the win’
A 21-year-old driver has been banned from the road for a year and fined £500 after he smashed into a lamppost with cannabis in his system.
Warehouse operator Hayden Rumgay came a cropper in Perth’s Glasgow Road on Feburuary 27 and police found his Ford Fiesta on top of the downed lamppost near a grassy area at the Needless Road junction.
Rumgay, of Coronation Avenue, Scone, appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted driving while just over the limit for THC (2.8mics/ 2).
His not guilty plea to a charge of careless driving was accepted.
Fiscal depute Stephanie Paterson, prosecuting, said police were called to the single-vehicle accident at 9.41pm and found the car on the pavement with the lamppost wedged underneath it and debris strewn across the road.
“It was evident that the accused had been driving north on Glasgow Road, before striking the lamppost and driving across onto the southbound carriageway, before mounting the kerb,” Ms Paterson said.
Solicitor Linda Clark, defending, said: “There was nothing about his appearance that caused officers any concern.
“He had been smoking cannabis the day before.
“To say this is a salutary lesson is something of an understatement.”
Ms Clark said it was hoped her first offender client would retain his job, despite being unable to drive.
Sheriff William Wood told Rumgay: “It sounds as if you had a rather lucky escape.
“You hit the lamppost and it seems you got the better of it. Take that as a win.”
Charity ball embezzler
The director of a St Andrews University charity ball who embezzled more than £5,700 has been hit with a “significant” fine. Amy Fisken wept as a Dundee sheriff sentenced her for stealing the cash, which was intended for The House of Horrors ball.
‘Dangerous’ domestic abuser
Repeat domestic abuser Shaun Burnett, 31, narrowly avoided prison.
Two different partners were abused at Burnett’s hands on separate occasions in Dundee.
He has been jailed for abuse against one of the women before, including an incident involving a knife.
Burnett admitted bombarding her with contact and making violent threats between October 24 and 26 2022.
He said he would kill her and told her to “watch herself coming home”.
Another woman had been in a short relationship with Burnett, who refused to return her keys and loitered outside her home before kicking the front door.
She had ended the relationship and blocked him but Burnett repeatedly called her from a withheld number.
In one call Burnett, whose new partner is pregnant, said: “I’m going to smash you, whoever you’re with and the house.”
Burnett, of Salton Crescent, admitted abusing the woman between February 23 and March 15 this year.
Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith said: “The date where he’s threatening to ‘smash’ her if she has got the audacity to be with someone else, he’s already in a relationship with his new partner.
“He’s a cheat as well as a domestically abusive person… He’s almost getting handcuffs put on him and dragged downstairs.”
Solicitor Alexandra Short used the word “gentleman” in referencing her client but was interrupted by the sheriff who stated: “He’s far from a gentleman”.
The solicitor said a fine and unpaid work would be more likely to end his offending than “sitting in HMP Perth”.
Burnett will be supervised and placed on the Caledonian Programme for domestic offenders for 18 months, must perform 216 hours of unpaid work and cannot approach or contact either of the women for the next five years.
Sheriff Niven-Smith said because he was prosecuted at summary level, he could have been sent to prison for 10 months but “you would, at best, serve five months in custody and I consider that whilst it would be an appropriate punishment, the (criminal) record strikes me that you are a potentially dangerous man.
“You would be released and not be under the supervision of the court to monitor your propensity for violence.
“Because my sentencing powers are inadequate to properly deal with you, I will impose a direct alternative to imprisonment.”
Jail considered
A sheriff said he has considered jailing rogue BMW driver David Bilson, 20, who dragged a police officer across the road and crashed into a house after sneaking into the car outside a friend’s house in Ladybank in August.
Punched partner
A Montrose man has admitted punching his ex partner on the head, injuring her.
Kevin Christie, 54, pled guilty to the assault at Orange Lane on September 26 this year when he appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court.
Sheriff Derek Reekie deferred sentencing and said: “A very quick glance of your record of previous convictions shows a number of domestic matters.
“I make no promises as to what the outcome will be.”
Christie, of Strathmore Place in Montrose, will return to the dock on January 23.
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