Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Sheriff rejects motion to shelve case against trio accused of assault

Sheriff rejects motion to shelve case against trio accused of assault

A sheriff has rejected a plea to have an 18-month-old assault case thrown out.

Sheriff Pino Di Emidio at Forfar rejected submissions by solicitors for three men to have their case dropped because of the length of time it was taking to come trial.

John Starkey, 25, of Kinloss Barracks, Elgin; Mark MacEachen, 26, of Dalkeith, Midlothian; and 25-year-old Dale Cruickshank, of Leonard Street, Arbroath; all deny assaulting another male on October 12 2014 at West Port, Arbroath, by repeatedly pushing him on the body and repeatedly punching him on the head and body, causing him to fall into a window to his injury.

They further deny punching another male repeatedly on the head to his injury.

Solicitors opposed a Crown motion to postpone the trial and set another date.

Starkey’s agent said his client had initially appeared on petition in October 2014 before the complaint against the trio had been reduced to summary level.

The case had been due to go to trial last December, but could not be heard, and Wednesday’s scheduled proceedings could also not take place.

The solicitor said: “He has been in the army for eight years and has attended court with a senior officer, which is normal procedure.

“Regrettably, he wasn’t advised that this latest calling of the case would be adjourned and is extremely disappointed.

“There may be consequences for his army career in the event of a conviction and this case hanging over him has caused considerable concern. That includes the possibility of a dishonourable discharge.”

“He has no previous convictions and has never been in any trouble before.”

Solicitors for the others accused presented similar opposition but Sheriff Di Emidio said there had been only one prior trial diet.

“Early diets can be fixed at which a priority can be ascribed to this case,” he said.

The matter will call again on May 3.