A prosecution witness has been found in contempt of court after walking out during a trial, causing the case to collapse.
Barry Stenhouse, 34, from Dunfermline, appeared from custody at the city’s sheriff court following the incident earlier this week.
The court heard Stenhouse, a Crown witness, started to get annoyed by questions being asked by the prosecutor.
Sheriff Paul ralph said Stenhouse was asked more questions after a warning and decided, after a “mild outburst,” he was “offski” and walked out the court building.
The accused in the case – John Johnston, 34, of Dunfermline – was found not guilty of domestic offences.
Sheriff Ralph told Stenhouse he had undermined the woman’s position in the case adding: “I hope you get both barrels when you meet up with (her)”.
The sheriff added: “If you come to give evidence again, believe me it is worth making a good impression in court.
“If you don’t understand something, you tell the court or sheriff who will do something about it.
“Don’t walk out again. It absolutely won’t be tolerated if you are swearing at staff”.
Sheriff Ralph said he recognised Stenhouse had spent a night in custody already and
admonished him, meaning he now has a criminal record.
Rifle coach guilty
A former coach at St Andrews Rifle Club has been placed on the sex offenders register after being found guilty of touching female students. Volunteer Patrick Jess was found guilty of a string of sexual assaults at the Fife shooting club.
Hairdresser appeal fails
Hairdresser Elaine Murphy, who assaulted a dementia sufferer in a care home, has failed to overturn her conviction.
She was convicted following a trial at Perth Sheriff Court in September last year after the court ruled she attacked the 88-year-old during in March 2023.
The court heard that Murphy had been at the unnamed care home to cut the hair of the man, referred to as JM, lashed out and spat at Murphy – behaviour not unusual for his condition.
She told staff “he hit me, so I hit him back” and made a punching gesture.
Murphy later claimed she only raised her hands in self-defence.
A sheriff ruled while the assault itself was not seen, an “altercation” was witnessed by care home staff, confirmed by Murphy in police interview.
She was admonished.
In a judgment from the sheriff appeal court, Sheriff Brian Mohan ruled the decision was correct.
Calling the case “unusual”, he noted when talking to staff, Murphy made no reference to defending herself.
He ruled: “While the evidence of those comments regarding an altercation is not per se evidence of an assault by the appellant, we have concluded that … it was capable of providing corroboration of the appellant’s admission in the staff office.
“There was corroborated evidence of an assault. The first piece of evidence was the admission by the appellant made to (staff) that she had hit the complainer.
“Corroboration came from the separate evidence of an altercation.”
He also noted Murphys differing accounts of the interaction, writing: “In particular the sheriff noted that, on the evidence before him, the appellant told care home staff that she had struck the complainer, then told police that she only put up her hands in self-defence to stop blows, but then in evidence said that she had “put her hands up to squeeze past him”.
“The sheriff was entitled to consider those different accounts when assessing credibility and reliability.”
Animal ban
A woman who locked a dog out in freezing temperatures, forcing it to go in search of shelter, has been banned from keeping animals. Louise Barclay was heard saying “I’m sick of him”, after closing the door on her ex-partner’s pet Flame.
Spiced rum drink-drive
A Cowdenbeath pensioner was three times the drink-drive limit when she drove to a shop to buy morning rolls for a bus trip north to Inverness the next day.
Elizabeth Millar, 73, was drank Captain Morgan spiced rum before venturing out to the local Co-op.
Millar, of Arthur Street, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court to plead guilty to driving with excess alcohol (72mics/22) on Sinclair Drive and elsewhere on February 13 this year.
Prosecutor Rebecca Coakley told the court Millar’s car was involved in a collision at around 6.30pm and witnesses who went to help noticed she appeared intoxicated and slurring her words.
The court heard Millar said she had four glasses of wine and was “away home” and walked off from the scene, to be traced by police later.
Defence lawyer Elaine Buist said Millar had been drinking rum and become upset while looking at pictures of her recently-deceased husband and was “astounded” to return to find not much of the bottle left.
While driving to the shop, her car “swung out on a bend and hit a parked vehicle,” Ms Buist said.
Sheriff Paul Ralph fined Millar £400 and banned her from driving for a year.
She will be eligible for a reduction in her ban of three months if she successfully completes the drink-driver rehabilitation course.
‘One-man crime spree’
A domestic thug attacked his ex-partner and two other woman after gate crashing a family party in Perth. Jamie Barrie, 35, tried to set fire to the host’s moped during his terrifying “one-man crime spree” at a property in the city’s Letham area.
Hair puller
A man admitted trying to pull the woman he is divorcing from a car by her hair during a heated argument in Forfar.
Mykailo Orobczuk appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court to admit a charge of threatening or abusive behaviour on December 5 last year.
Prosecutor Alan Bell explained the couple had separated after three years of marriage a week before the incident and had met at Orobczuk’s Gallowshade Road home to discuss matters.
However, when the subject of money was broached, their discussion became an argument and Orobczuk called the woman a “cancerous slut.”
The shouting and swearing continued and Orobczuk phoned his mother.
The woman got in a car but the accused tried to pull her from the vehicle by her hair.
Orobczuk, 31, pled guilty to shouting, swearing acting in an aggressive manner, referring to the woman in a derogatory manner and grabbing keys from her.
He admitted grabbing the woman by the hair and attempting to pull her from a car.
His solicitor Larry Flynn said: “Both of them were shouting. The irony is the shouting – none of it was to do with the break down. It’s all about money.”
Sheriff Derek Reekie ordered Orobczuk to be of good behaviour until sentencing on July 17, indicating a financial penalty is likely after that.
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