Moray court roundup - Border Collie bites two women, Elgin man’s ‘appalling attack’ and drunk man threatened neighbours
Our reporters have been busy covering a variety of court cases this week.
Read on as we bring you the most notable.
Cocaine motorist ignored road closure
A motorist who had taken cocaine ignored a ‘road closed’ sign put in place by police following a fatal accident.
Russell Sim was pulled over after he was seen driving down the A941 between Rothes and Elgin during the morning of June 18.
Elgin Sheriff Court heard the road had been closed off the previous evening.
At the time an investigation was still underway into the crash near Longmorn in which one man had died and another two had been seriously injured.
When officers asked the 41-year-old why he’d driven past the stop sign, he replied that he had to pick up someone from hospital.
A saliva test performed at 11.07am that morning revealed the presence of cocaine in his system.
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov imposed a 16-month driving ban and placed the Lossiemouth resident under the court’s supervision for the next six months.
In addition, she ordered Sim to carry out 135 hours of unpaid work for the community.
Drunk man threatened neighbours then urinated in a police cell
A man verbally abused and threatened his neighbours then urinated inside a police cell after being arrested.
Gary Sim started shouting at one neighbour during the afternoon of June 24, accusing the man of feeding pigeons.
Speaking at Elgin Sheriff Court, fiscal depute Karen Poke said: “The accused stated he was not someone to be messed with and told the witness he shouldn’t sleep well that night.”
The court heard that the 38-year-old then turned his anger towards another neighbour who was sunbathing in her garden, calling her a “fat lesbian” and threatening to harm her cats.
Man fined after Border Collie dog bites two women
An elderly man whose “out of control” dog bit two women in separate incidents has been fined.
William Johnstone appeared at Banff Sheriff Court facing two charges of allowing his dog to be “dangerously out of control”.
The 81-year-old pleaded guilty to allowing his Border Collie to be “dangerously out of control” when it lunged at a woman and bit her on the body at Tannery Street in Banff on December 18, 2023.
Morning after drug-driving leads to ban for teenager
A teenager who was discovered to be driving under the influence of drugs after taking them the night before has been banned from the roads.
Arran Paterson (19) of Bath Street, Macduff, appeared at Banff Sheriff Court facing one charge.
He pleaded guilty to driving a car while unfit through drink or drugs on June 23, 2024 on the B9031 Gardenstown to Macduff road, near the junction with the A98.
Fiscal depute Anne Mann told the court Paterson was driving his car at about 8.15am that day.
She outlined police officers were attending an unrelated incident and saw Paterson driving after earlier seeing the car parked in a lay-by.
Man kept returning like a ‘homing pigeon’ despite court ban
A man repeatedly returned like a ‘homing pigeon’ to Buckie despite a court order to stay away.
On May 1 last year Christopher Walker began shouting incoherently at neighbours also living on the town’s Well Road. Elgin Sheriff Court heard that the 34-year-old, who was at an upstairs window, then pulled his trousers down, exposing his penis through the frosted glass.
The day afterwards, on May 2, Walker interrupted a get-together being held in a garden on Milton Drive, just around the corner from his Buckie home.
Walker repeatedly pushed a woman, causing her to fall to the ground, then punched her once on the head.
The police took him into custody that evening. When interviewed by officers, he claimed to have been pushed himself by members of the woman’s family.
Walker appeared in court on May 3 and was granted bail, but then breached it by returning to Milton Drive.
He breached his bail again on August 3, when he was spotted on Milton Drive using the cash machine at the Scotmid store.
Elgin man found with child abuse images claimed he clicked link by accident
An Elgin man claimed he had clicked a link to child porn on his mobile phone by accident after it was sent to him on a messenger website.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard that 32-year-old Adam Betteridge, of Main Street, had his home raided by police and the phone was seized which was examined and had 14 of the most serious types of child abuse images at Category A and one 10 second video.
Depute fiscal Pauline Gair told Sheriff Sara Matheson that experts also found three still images in Category B and two in category C.
All were inaccessible and had been downloaded between September 29, 2019 and September 8, 2022 - the day before Betteridge's home was searched.
Also found were deleted search histories which had saved words like "pedophile, young, younger, youngest, pedo and hairless", Mrs Gair added.
Defence solicitor David Patterson said his client had no previous convictions and a background report would be required.
Teenager who sexually assaulted two other women is sentenced
A 19-year-old woman who befriended and sexually assaulted two women in Moray has been placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for two years.
Abby Smith, now of Bow Road, London, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court and admitted sexual assault in incidents between June 4 and July 16, 2024.
The assaults occurred in the same house in Elgin after the teenager had befriended them before making sexual advances to both.
Smith pleaded guilty to the sexual assault charges. At a previous court appearance, Inverness Sheriff Court heard that Smith sexually assaulted the women by penetration with fingers.
Alongside being placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register, Sheriff Gary Aitken ordered her to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.
In addition, she was sentenced to two years of supervision.
Elgin man left victim unconscious after ‘appalling unprovoked’ attack
An Elgin man left his victim unconscious and unable to work for three weeks after “appalling unprovoked violence” on the town’s high street.
Kacper Siemeszko pulled another man to the ground before punching and kicking him on the head on April 27, 2024.
Fiscal depute Naomi Duffy-Welsh told Sheriff Gary Aitken at Inverness Sheriff Court that the 21-year-old was not known to his victim before the assault.
She said: “At 11pm the witness was on the High Street speaking to drivers in the taxi queue.
“The accused barged past, before there was pushing and shoving between the two.
“This overspilled to the road, and both threw punches, but none connected. Siemeszko then pulled his victim to the ground.
“He struck him with force seven times. He then kicked him and missed. He then kicked him in the head and rendered him unconscious.”
