Monday court round-up — Bail barfer and bouncy badness

A Dundee shoplifter was joined in the dock by his breakfast when he spewed after being told he would be granted bail.

Serial offender Graham Lyons appeared from custody at Dundee Sheriff Court and pled guilty to two charges of shoplifting.

At DV8 in the city’s Overgate on June 30 this year, he stole £80 worth of clothing.

Then, on July 24, he stole £278 worth of razor blades, body spray and body wash from the Sainsbury’s on Perth Road.

The 47-year-old, who is listed in court papers as being of no fixed abode, was on bail orders in connection with five different cases when he committed the July thefts.

Solicitor John Boyle explained Lyons is due to be sentenced for other matters on December 5.

As Sheriff John Rafferty deferred sentencing until then and granted bail, Lyons, handcuffed to a GeoAmey officer, leaned over and vomited onto the front of the dock.

Lottery con

A Dundee supermarket worker who exploited a “glitch” in the system to steal £47,000 from the National Lottery has been jailed. Melanie Davies managed to obtain the cash after inflating the number on winning tickets and scratchcards at Asda Milton of Craigie.

Bouncing badness

A woman admitted breaking a five-year-old girl’s collarbone by pushing her off a trampoline.

Jamie-Lee Ferguson was charged with assaulting the youngster at a property in the city’s Tweedsmuir Road on October 15 last year.

The 24-year-old appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted an alternative charge of culpable and reckless conduct.

Court papers state she culpably and recklessly pushed the child on the back, causing her to fall to the ground, where she was severely injured.

Ferguson, of Dunsinane Drive, Perth, will be sentenced next month when background reports have been prepared.

Bricklayer busted

A Fife bricklayer stashed “numerous” secret intimate photos of his former partner that she did not know he’d taken. Self-employed Steven Brown, 39, of Kirkcaldy, secretly snapped pictures while she was asleep, getting changed and bending over to pick up things.

Abuser warning

A violent abuser from Dundee who repeatedly bloodied his partner during a substance-fuelled attack has been placed on a stringent supervision order.

Kevin Chaplin, 38, spent just over a year on remand in connection with the assault on his ex-partner in Arbroath after taking a cocktail of drink and drugs on October 29 last year.

Dundee Sheriff Court was told how a social work report said Chaplin has the “propensity to cause serious harm to others”.

It was previously revealed how the bloodied woman tried to clean herself up after an initial assault when he attacked her and burst her nose again.

He grabbed the woman by the neck with both hands and lifted her from the ground, repeatedly kicked and punched her.

Police were contacted by a neighbour who heard screaming and banging.

Chaplin admitted he impaired, permanently disfigured and severely injured his partner at an address in Arbroath.

Two police officers were also assaulted during the journey to police headquarters.

Sheriff Mungo Bovey KC sentenced Chaplin to 24 months in prison backdated to when he was remanded on October 20 2023.

After also imposing a supervised release order – the prison sentence has effectively been served already – he said: “Be under no illusions, it’s down to you to keep your hands empty and away from other people.

“If you are not able to do that, we’ll see you back soon. We’ll always be here for you.”

Barr was made subject to a five-year non-harassment order (NHO).

He already has a separate five-year NHO relating to another ex-partner.

Feud spills over

A mum reversed her car into a woman walking children home from school after challenging her to a fight. The woman was knocked down after being struck by the open passenger door of an Audi driven by rival Kristi Morton. A jury heard how the two women had been involved in a long-running feud.

Unfit state

A man has admitted exposing a four-year-old child to controlled drugs at a squalid flat in Perth.

Andrew Love appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and pled guilty to putting the youngster at risk of unnecessary suffering or injury to health.

The child was in the 36-year-old’s care at the time, the court heard.

He exposed the youngster to controlled drugs and paraphernalia and failed to be in a sober enough condition.

Love allowed the child to sleep in a bed stained with urine, blood and faeces and admitted failing to maintain the property to a hygienic and clean state.

Prosecutors accepted a not guilty plea from co-accused Holly McLean, 36.

First offender Love, of Pomarium Street, will be sentenced next month.

Sheriff’s determination

Sheriff Alastair Carmichael, 61, says he is determined to carry on presiding over court cases despite being diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in February. He is using synthetic voice technology to continue in his role at the Dundee Sheriff Court and said he never considered stepping down.

County lines dealer

A county lines cocaine and heroin dealer caught operating in a flat in Dundee has been convicted of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs by a jury.

Romario Nates Wallen, of Deer Park Drive in Birmingham, stood trial at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.

The majority of jurors convicted him of being concerned in the supply of both drugs at a flat in Dundee’s Abbotsford Place on May 24, 2022.

The 22-year-old was caught with 13.3g of cocaine and 23.22g of heroin, worth around £2,000 in total.

Sheriff James Williamson ordered background reports ahead of sentencing on November 25 and continued Wallen’s bail.

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