A Rangers fan caught scrapping at McDiarmid Park has dodged a football ban.
Gary Graham, 21, travelled to Perth to watch his team take on St Johnstone on December 1 2024.
Fiscal depute Alan Bell told the city’s sheriff court he was identified by police before the game as part of a group of supporters known as the Union Bears.
“Because of the large amount of fans, police moved closer to them. Officers had no concerns until a fight broke out.
“Two males, including the accused, were seen throwing punches at each other.”
They ran off when police shouted at them to stop and chasing officers eventually caught up with Graham, while the other man managed to give them the slip.
Mr Bell said Graham, from Glasgow, was “hostile” and taken to police HQ in Dundee and released on an undertaking to appear in court at a later date.
Solicitor Alan Davie, defending, said the fight broke out in a row about tickets.
“The other person was also a Rangers fan, so this was not violence associated with football rivalry.”
Graham pled guilty to a breach of the peace charge, his second football-related conviction.
Sheriff Clair McLachlan said the threshold for a football order had been met but she did not have enough information about his previous offence to make one and fined him £240.
Killed horses in crash
A lorry driver has been found guilty of driving dangerously before a crash on the A9 near Perth, which left four horses dead and his co-driver with multiple broken bones.
Justin Bower was driving a 7.5-tonne Mercedes lorry when it hit the back of a broken-down horse transporter at the top of Cairnie Braes on August 24 2021.
A nine-year-old stallion named Party Trick, said to be worth more than £1million, was among the animals killed.
The horses had been on their way to Blair Horse Trials when the tragedy happened.
Tattoo artist drink-drive
A tattoo artist who was almost three times the drink-drive limit has been fined and banned.
Philip Burns was stopped by police on the A92 Dundee to Arbroath road near Panmurefield on March 2 this year.
The 44-year-old was found to have no MOT certificate for his car as it had expired the previous September.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard Burns, the sole occupant of the Range Rover Evoque, was slurring his speech when speaking to police.
Burns, of Dundee Street in Carnoustie, pled guilty to driving with excess alcohol (61mics/ 22) without legal representation.
He told Sheriff Eric Brown losing his licence would have an impact on the tattoo studio he operates in Dundee.
Burns said: “It was the first time ever doing anything like that, I couldn’t get a taxi.”
He was fined £420 and disqualified from driving for 12 months.
Hunters snared Dundee man
A group of paedophile hunters snared a Dundee man who believed he was sending sexual messages to a child. Stephen Capon, 49, was confronted at his city home by a group called Scotland’s Child Protection Team.
Bales blaze
A fire-starter caused up to £15,000 worth of damage to stables in Fife.
Bryce Roberts, 20, was a teenager when he set fire to hay bales at Pitlessie Common in Ladybank on December 18 2023.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard how the first offender repeatedly changed his story when confronted.
Roberts, of Kinloch Street, Ladybank, was also found in possession of a hammer without reasonable excuse or lawful authority.
Fiscal depute Sarah High said stables were damaged as a result of the blaze, with the cost estimated between £10,000 to £15,000.
Roberts previously pled guilty to the offence and was placed on a restriction of liberty order (7pm-7am) for 60 days as a direct alternative to custody.
Sheriff Paul Brown said: “I am sure you realise how serious and dangerous this was.”
Stout defence
A motorist from Dundee was caught at almost five times the drink-drive limit after coming off the road in Stirlingshire after mistakenly believing he was downing non-alcoholic beer. Kevin Parkin initially bought himself a Guinness Zero but friends purchasing subsequent rounds believed he was drinking the standard version.
Court chaos
A man assaulted police and threatened to slit a woman’s throat during at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.
Peter Hunter, 26, currently a prisoner at Perth, also struck a police officer with scissors in a separate incident.
He appeared by video-link at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court for sentencing.
He previously admitted that on May 7 last year at Dunfermline Sheriff Court he threatened a woman, challenged her to fight, shouted, swore, repeatedly made threats to police officers, attempted to headbutt a wall and threatened to bring a knife to court.
He assaulted two police officers by kicking them to their injury.
Depute fiscal Sarah Smith said Hunter was sitting in the JP court with a hat on and was unhappy when told to remove it.
Later, he refused to get to his feet when the JP left the court and was told he should do so by a police officer.
When a woman told him to stand up to avoid getting into trouble, he told her, “I’ll slit your throat”.
He went on to challenge the woman to fight and was arrested for breach of the peace after “shouting incoherently” in a corridor.
He struggled and had to be taken to the floor, shouting abuse, and then kicked the officers when brought to his feet.
He headbutted a wall and kicked an officer in the face, causing his nose to bleed.
He had to be carried to the police vehicle, shouting: “Next time I come to court I’m going to bring a knife.”
On June 4 at Letham Terrace, Leven, he threw a pair of scissors, which struck a police officer’s body when they showed up to execute a warrant.
The court was told Hunter suffered a traumatic childhood when he was neglected and also locked in a room for long periods, which has affected his attitude to authority figures into his adulthood.
Sheriff James Williamson jailed him for 26 months backdated to June 5 last year when he was remanded in custody and he will be subject to a supervised release order for a year when he comes out of jail.
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