A man involved in a 59-plant, £36,000 cannabis cultivation in Cowdenbeath has been jailed for eight months.
Muhamet Ismajlgeci, 28, of no fixed abode, appeared from custody for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court after earlier pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply and production of the drug.
On January 15 this year at an address in Barclay Street he was concerned in the supply of cannabis and its production by facilitating, maintaining and supervising the growth of plants.
Prosecutor Catherine Stevenson told the court the estimated potential street value of the cultivation was £36,000 and confirmed Ismajlgeci – aided in court by an Albanian translator – was “caught in the house”.
At the previous hearing, the court heard Ismajlgeci has no right to remain in the UK.
Sheriff Duff told him his guilty plea reduced the sentence by four months and it was backdated to January 16.
Upskirt pervert
A pensioner who upskirted six teenage girls in a Fife Tesco in one day has been given community service despite it being his second conviction for the “same thing”. Bruce Clark, 77, of Limekilns, pled guilty to voyeurism offences at the Winterthur Lane store in Dunfermline involving victims aged between 14 and 16 years old.
Dog death charges warrant
A Dundee man accused of neglecting and mistreating seven XL bully dogs before their deaths has been released on bail.
Christopher McLaren, 31, is also accused of exposing a child to an environment where decomposing dog corpses were present.
McLaren appeared from custody at the city’s sheriff court after being arrested on a warrant.
He had been due to appear in court on January 13 but solicitor Theo Finlay said he had struggled to make contact with McLaren.
The charge against him alleges that on August 19 this year, the child was allegedly exposed to urine, faeces, blood, decaying food and dog carcasses, one of which was “significantly decomposed”.
Another dog carcass, according to court papers, had been eaten by another animal in the property.
McLaren faces separate allegations of illegally being in possession of XL bullies.
Between September 30 2023 and August 20 this year, McLaren, being responsible for two adult XL bullies and five XL bully puppies, now deceased, allegedly exposed them to an unhygienic environment.
He is accused of failing to provide them with adequate nutrition, hydration, ventilation, resting areas, failing to allow them outdoor access and failing to provide a safe, hygienic environment.
Further allegations state McLaren, of Bowbridge Place, failed to seek vet advice or treatment for dogs that had become dehydrated or emaciated.
Prosecutors were not opposed to McLaren’s bail and he was released ahead of a case management hearing next month.
Driving tragedy
An equestrian boss has been found guilty causing the death through careless driving of a “much-loved” grandmother in rural Perthshire. Jacqueline Gadd, 69, died after being reversed over and getting trapped under a vehicle driven by Andrew Dewar-McCabe near Kinloch Rannoch in June 2022.
Time’s up for dealer
A soldier-turned-drug-dealer caught delivering a kilo of cocaine to Dundee has been ordered to pay nearly £50,000 of ill-gotten gains, including luxury Rolex and Breitling watches.
Dean Bell, 36, pled guilty in 2023 to being involved in racket which supplied drugs and laundered cash from trade between Dundee and Glasgow based gangsters.
Police arrested Ball after an encrypted phone network used by crooks across Europe was breached.
He pled guilty to being involved in serious organised crime between September 2019 and June 2020.
A proceeds of crime action brought against him by Crown lawyers heard at the High Court in Edinburgh it had agreed the drug-dealer had made £174,082 from his life of crime but only had £48,612 currently available.
Prosecutor Bryan Heaney said: “The sum agreed includes a number of Rolex and Breitling watches. It also includes Mr Bell’s interest in a house and a relatively small sum of cash.”
Prosecutors can resume action against Bell if they become aware of further assets.
At previous proceedings, judge Lord Armstrong heard how Bell was a member of a serious organised crime group responsible for supplying drugs through Scotland and he associated with convicted Dundee drugs trafficker George McLean.
Bell, of Chryston, North Lanarkshire, arranged with McLean to have nearly a £50,000 kilo of cocaine delivered to an address in Dundee.
He was intercepted and his encrypted phones were seized and messages discussing the purchase, preparation and supply of drugs and distribution and collection of money were found.
‘Second-class citizen’ claim
A violent thug accused of treating his wife as a “second-class citizen” after he assaulted her in Dundee narrowly avoided a prison sentence. Larry Onaghise, 33, was lambasted for the “vicious” and “sustained” attack.
Clubber
A clubber has been told to pay her victim £1,000 compensation after a nightclub fight.
Ashley Clark, 38, of Laburnum Road, Methil, struck the woman on the head and engaged in a struggle with her at Truth in Leven’s North Street in the early hours of September 17 2023.
She appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court for sentencing after earlier pleading guilty to the assault to injury.
Prosecutor Catherine Stevenson told the court Clark approached the woman in the dancefloor area and shouted at her before an argument began.
She said Clark hit the woman across the face and both of them ended up on the floor before bouncers stepped in.
Clark’s victim went to hospital for her eye to be checked and she had bruising around the neck area.
Defence lawyer Alistair Burleigh said Clark also suffered injuries and referred to a “background” to the incident but said Clark accepts she lost control.
Sheriff Steven Borthwick noted Clark’s “good employment history and work ethic” and
fined her £225 as well as the compensation order.
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