A farmer responsible for the starvation of five Highland cows during a summer drought was warned “imprisonment is a possibility”.
David Cameron, 72, admitted leaving the animals in a field near Stirling without checking them regularly “in a time of extended drought” between April 21 and June 21 2023.
Stirling Sheriff Court heard despite the cattle having access to “negligible” quantities of grass in the field, Cameron failed to provide supplementary feeding, resulting in “chronic malnutrition”.
The court was told Cameron had sold the cattle and was keeping them in the field prior to transport to Ireland.
Solicitor Virgil Crawford, defending, said Cameron had arranged for someone to look after them before they were moved.
“That person did so for a time, then apparently run out of feed and wasn’t feeding them.
“Mr Cameron was expecting the cattle would have been transported sooner than they were but he remains responsible.”
He said his client, of Snowdon Place, Stirling, is “about to retire”.
He pled guilty to causing the animals unnecessary suffering, contrary to the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act.
Sheriff Keith O’Mahony deferred sentence until April 25 for a background report and an assessment of Cameron’s suitability for an electronic ankle tag and home curfew.
He said: “Imprisonment is a possibility.”
Slow driver
Police took “quite a while to catch up” with careless driver Blessing Manokore, despite her navigating roads at just 10mph.
Fiscal depute Lindsay Brooks said carer Manokore, 43, had driven her Nissan Micra through the Carron Valley.
Occupants of another car, driving behind, filmed her and called police.
Ms Brooks said: “They were concerned about the driver, largely because of her excessively slow speed. It was around 10-to-15 mph for a fairly long time period.
”They were concerned that the driver was intoxicated. The passenger filmed this or around 25 minutes.
”The footage shows mainly very slow driving but the car can be seen to be swerving across the road.“
She said Manokore hit the kerb and a grass verge.
”At one point she appears stuck on the grass verge. She then joined the main B818 without slowing down or stopping.
“It was quite a while before police catch up with her. By that time she had driven into a residential area.”
Solicitor Virgil Crawford, defending, said Manokore came to the UK from Zimbabwe in February 2024 and would likely lose her job if disqualified.
”On the day in question she was working – going to the home of a person she required to attend for caring duties.
”She was driving on a road she was not familiar with and was in a vehicle that did not have sat nav. She was attempting to follow directions she had been given.
”It was about 5.30pm, the sun was setting and that affected her visibility.
”In her view she was trying to be careful due to the sun in her eyes.”
Manokore, of Grangemouth, admitted driving carelessly on the B818 at Stoneywood, Nethermains Road and other roads in Denny on March 23 last year.
She was handed four penalty points and fined £200.
Pub brawler
A man has been jailed for his part in a brawl outside a Stirling pub.
Andrew Valentine attacked a man he believed was attacking his partner.
The city’s sheriff court heard the woman had issues with a group in Morrison’s on Murray Place.
This led to a “disturbance” on the street outside.
Valentine, 33, of Bannockburn, admitted assaulting the man by repeatedly punching him on July 21 last year.
He was jailed for nine months.
Heroin inheritance
A Stirling man used the promise of a £13,000 inheritance to buy heroin.
Steven Connell purchased £300 of the class A drug, promising to pay later.
However police attending his home on another matter found the substance during a search.
Connell, 45, of Moran Road, Stirling, admitted possessing the drug at an address in St Ninians on December 17.
He was jailed for five months.
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