Monday court round-up — Gardening conman and attacker sentenced

A bogus gardener swindled a combined £3,300 from two people in Fife.

Michael Dunlop, of West Park Avenue, Leslie, previously pled guilty to fraudulently obtaining £2,774 from one woman in the Crossgates area between March 17 2023 and May 22 this year.

He did the same thing to a man in Glenrothes for £530 on August 1 last year.

Dunlop, 35, appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court for sentencing and prosecutor Annie Henderson told the court the woman contacted Dunlop to carry out work in her garden and transferred £2,774.89.

He said he would start within days but came up with excuses why he did not do so.

Relatives have since tried to get the money back, without success.

The fiscal depute said the situation was “the same” in relation to the man, who contacted Dunlop and transferred £530.

Work was supposed to start on August 18 but he failed to show up.

Dunlop then said he would begin work in early September but said there were issues with a digger.

Defence lawyer Iain McCafferty said Dunlop feels “horrible” for what he did.

He said a “true test” of his remorse would be repayment and suggested a deferral to save money for compensation.

He has until June 12 to be of good behaviour and demonstrate he can make savings.

Paedo coach

A Fife football coach sent videos of himself performing a sex act, along with sexualised messages, to someone he thought was a child. James Devine, 42, was unaware he was chatting online to an adult member of a paedophile hunter group.

Sex attacker sentenced

A 26-year-old man convicted of sexually assaulting two women has been ordered to perform unpaid work.

Youssef Elseedawy denied carrying out the attacks on various dates between August 2012 and May 2022.

However, a sheriff found him guilty of four separate offences against the two women at addresses in Perthshire and Dundee.

Elseedawy was convicted of repeatedly touching a woman on the body between August 2 2012 and December 31 2014.

He seized the girl’s face with both hands and kissed her on the lips between March 1 2018 and March 31 2019, as well as pressing his body against her.

Between May 5 and 11 2022, Elseedawy sexually assaulted a second woman by placing his hand on her leg and trying to kiss her.

Sheriff Donald Ferguson convicted him of repeatedly making sexual comments to the same person between the same dates.

Elseedawy, of St Madoes, was placed on the sex offenders register for 18 months, the duration of his supervision as part of a community payback order.

He was also ordered to perform 275 hours of unpaid work.

Pill thief

A Ninewells Hospital worker from Perth who stole boxes of high-strength painkillers over a four-year period has been spared a prison sentence. Ben Douglas, 24, was criticised for his breach of trust after he previously pled guilty to taking packages of medication and a paramedics uniform.

Brandished rake

A Fife man who swung a garden rake at police has been fined.

Gordon Boyd, 49, of Lochty Park, Kinglassie, continued to “swing and jab” the tool at his home, despite two officers using PAVA spray on him.

Boyd appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court for sentencing after earlier pleading guilty to the October 4 2022 assault.

Prosecutor Annie Henderson told the court police arrived at Boyd’s home – his mother’s house – to speak to him about an unrelated incident and were invited in by his mum.

Boyd pushed one PC, causing him to stumble back into his colleague, then produced a “heavy duty” wooden-handled metal rake and swung it.

Both officers used their incapacitant spray and commanded Boyd to put down the rake but he continued to advance and swing it at both of them.

He eventually calmed down and was handcuffed.

Boyd also admitted vandalising property at Methil ex-servicemen’s club by snapping a chair leg and a wooden partition on August 24 that year.

He tried to leave through a fire exit after snapping the chair leg but “could not overcome” the door and went on to damage the wooden partition.

Defence lawyer Christine Hagan said her client is currently subject to a community treatment order and his mental health appeared to have deteriorated at the time

He was fined £250 for the assaults and admonished over the vandalism.

Student’s vile stash

A paedophile student caught with more than 30 hours of child abuse videos has been ordered to perform unpaid work. Lushuai Maxwell’s vile stash was uncovered on hard drives following a raid on his home in Dundee’s West End.

Assault

A Markinch man will be supervised and must complete unpaid work after admitting a sustained assault.

Nicholas Benedetti, 25, returned to Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to be sentenced after meeting social workers.

At an earlier hearing, he admitted assaulting a man at an address in Kirkcaldy’s Prestonfield Drive on July 26 this year.

He repeatedly punched his victim on the head and body, causing him to fall to the ground, then continued to punch him on the body while he was on the floor, injuring him.

Benedetti, of Queens Crescent in Markinch, was placed under supervision for 18 months and ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work.

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