An Arbroath hen do scammer who pocketed £1,500 from a party which never went ahead will be sentenced next month once a court can work out how much compensation her eight victims are due.
Claire Ramsay, 47, admitted stealing the four figure sum between January and August 2023.
Ramsay, of Cliffburn Road, Arbroath, admitted that she stole £1,500 from eight women by requesting and receiving payments for a hen party in Edinburgh which never took place.
Ramsay wasn’t present at Forfar Justice of the Peace Court when her case called.
Solicitor Keith Sym said: “This was resolved as a plea of theft, having originally been a fraud charge.
“All eight have suffered some degree of loss.
“She’s had significant mental health issues.”
Prosecutor Sarah High confirmed three of the women named were due £180, £57 and £160 respectively.
JP Allan Robertson deferred sentencing until March 14 for the sums the other five women are due to be confirmed and excused Ramsay’s attendance.
Catfish scam
Convicted child abuser Robi MacBain duped four women into sending selfies after creating a fake online persona.
The former soldier targeted his victims on Tinder and Facebook between January and April 2022.
The women believed they were talking to ‘Craig Thomson’, a tall, bearded, ex-marine from Broughty Ferry who worked for a security company.
Five times the limit
A banned driver was caught behind the wheel in Arbroath while more than five times over the limit.
James Swankie appeared from custody at Forfar Sheriff Court to admit driving with excess alcohol, while disqualified and without insurance.
Swankie was caught on Stobcross in Arbroath on February 15 and returned a breath reading of 119 mics, well over the limit of 22.
The 29-year-old’s solicitor Billy Rennie explained his client had spent three months in hospital last year due to inflammation of the brain.
He accepted Swankie had a previous conviction for failing to provide police with a breath sample when they suspected him of drink driving.
Swankie, of Grange Road in Arbroath, was granted bail and will be sentenced on March 27 when reports have been prepared and has been banned from the road again in the meantime.
Where is weapon that killed Annalise?
A man acquitted of murdering his own sister has told a new Courier podcast series how his ex-girlfriend buried the weapon inside a McDonald’s Happy Meal box at the side of a road.
Jordan Johnstone went on trial in 2019, accused of killing Annalise Johnstone at a sinister witch’s monument near Dunning, Perthshire.
He walked free after jurors returned a verdict of not proven.
The 31-year-old had reportedly told his murder trial he hid the murder weapon after his then-girlfriend Angela Newlands cut his sister’s throat.
Now he insists that it was Newlands who hit the weapon, telling reporter Brendan Duggan: “If I knew where it was, I would walk to it today and hand it to you.”
You can listen to the full series, ad free, by downloading The Courier app.
Subscribers to The Courier will be the first to receive new episodes, while the series is also available on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Spotify.
Bar brawl
An Arbroath woman must meet with social workers after admitting injuring another woman in a bar brawl.
Louise Crozier appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court to admit the assault at Central Bar in her hometown on May 25 last year.
Crozier, off Seaton Road, pled guilty to butting Sarah Cameron on the head and striking her on the head, leaving her injured.
The 35-year-old, who has analogous previous convictions, will be sentenced on March 27 once reports have been prepared.
Electroshock weapon found in death probe
Police recovered an illegal stun gun while investigating a sudden death at a flat in Perth.
The city’s sheriff court heard how the electroshock weapon was found in a jacket hanging up in Ruth Holgate’s home on Main Street, Bridgend.
Ms Holgate died in non-suspicious circumstances on February 24 2021.
Her partner Daniel Johnson went on trial at Perth Sheriff Court, accused of owning the banned device.
He denied any knowledge of the firearm but was convicted after jurors heard it contained traces of his DNA.
Although possession of a firearm carries a five-year sentence, Sheriff Jennifer Bain KC told 46-year-old Johnson she had been persuaded not to jail him after hearing how he had since turned his life around.
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