Monday court round-up — Murder accused and fast food

A woman has been ordered to stand trial over the alleged murder of a 97-year-old in Dundee.

Tandy Swinton, 43, is remanded in custody accused of killing William Lambie at sheltered housing accommodation earlier this year.

Mr Lambie died at a nursing home in May, allegedly as a consequence of the assault.

It is said Swinton assaulted Mr Lambie by demanding money from him and pushing him on the body, murdering him and robbing him of money.

Swinton, of Dundee, previously made no plea when she appeared on petition and maintained that position at a full committal hearing.

Sheriff Paul Brown continued to remand her after no motion for bail was made.

Cold call scam laundering

A man allowed £91,500 to be laundered through his bank account by crooks involved in a cold call scam. Large sums of money fraudulently obtained from elderly victims in an investment ruse were paid into William McLaren’s account over nearly two years. McLaren, 43, claims he did not know the nature of the scam.

Speedy chef

An Arbroath chef caught driving at 111mph on the A92 lied to police about his cruise control being broken.

Jay Forbes, who works in St Andrews, appeared at Forfar Justice of the Peace Court to admit speeding.

Officers parked near Muirdrum saw Forbes, 19, pass them in the 70mph zone just before 9.45pm on June 24 this year.

Once stopped he told police: “I’m personally confused as hell as the cruise control was set at 85.”

Representing himself in the dock, Forbes, of Millgate Loan in Arbroath, said: “I made that up on the spot, I thought I was going to get arrested for dangerous driving, I panicked.”

JP David Meek banned the new driver for six months and fined him £280 plus a £20 victim surcharge.

Chip shop thief

A hapless thief was caught on camera stealing an Arbroath fish and chip shop’s till, which contained only £3 in coppers. Rowan Connor later smashed his way into a pub before stealing electric toothbrushes and razor blades worth hundreds of pounds from two shops.

Sheriff’s surprise

A Perth sheriff said more people should be educated about the after-effects of drugs.

Sheriff Neil Kinnear suggested a similar scheme to the drink-drive rehabilitation course, which gives banned motorists the chance to reduce their disqualification period by learning about the impact of alcohol.

“I was quite surprised to learn, when I took up this post, that some drugs linger in the system for up to 10 days,” he said as he sentenced drug-driver Daryl McNicoll.

The 27-year-old was caught driving a Citreon Relay van on the Perth bypass with excess cannabis (6.2mics/ 2) in his blood after smoking the class B drug the night before.

McNicoll, from Prestonfield, Edinburgh, was pulled over about 8.30am on July 20 last year and officers noticed a strong smell of cannabis when they approached his vehicle.

The sheriff said: “A lot of people don’t realise how long these substances can stay in their system and there’s no equivalent programme to educate them.”

He told McNicoll: “Drugs can linger in the system for longer than you think and you have discovered that to your cost.”

McNicoll was banned from driving for a year and fined £400.

Landlord’s rage

A Perth landlord threatened to burn down his tenants’ home in a row caught on their Ring Doorbell camera. Gurcharan Singh flew into a rage after learning the couple renting his two-bedroom bungalow in Goodlyburn Place had applied for council housing.

Labouring to reduce intake

A labourer at Montrose Golf Club was caught with more than £1,000 worth of cannabis.

20-year-old Aiden Leal, of Montrose Street in Brechin, previously admitted possessing the Class B drug.

Police raided his former home in Trinity Road on July 7 last year and seized 114.8g of cannabis, worth £1,148 if sold in 1g deals.

Solicitor Sarah Russo told Forfar Sheriff Court: “He does continue to use cannabis although he tells me he has reduced his intake.”

Sheriff Clair McLachlan the ordered first offender to complete 180 hours of unpaid work in a year and granted forfeiture of four sets of digital scales and five mobile phones.

Road closure

A drugged-up driver forced the closure of a major Fife road while police tried to stop her erratically-driven vehicle. Charlene Hynd told police she was under the influence of drugs after they managed to stop her car on the A92.

A9 carnage

A lorry driver caused cars to collide as he motored down the A9 on the wrong side of the road.

Bernard Blair drove into oncoming traffic, forcing motorists to swerve out of his way.

Perth Sheriff Court heard two vehicles crashed as they tried to avoid the 58-year-old’s Scania R450 truck.

Blair, from Motherwell, admitted dangerous driving on January 7 2022 on a dual carriageway on the Perthshire border, between Dalnaspidal and Calvine.

The charge states Blair repeatedly drove into the opposite carriageway on the wrong side of the road and caused other drivers to take evasive action.

Two motorists collided.

Solicitor David Holmes asked the court to defer sentence for background reports due to
“medical issues”.

Sheriff Alison McKay continued the case until November 6 and Blair, of Mossbank Crescent, was banned from driving in the interim.

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