Friday court round-up — ‘Perth’s a dangerous place’

A teenager caught with a lock-knife in public told police he had it for protection because “Perth is a dangerous place.”

Filip Machowski made the “glib” comment to police after they found the blade during a search in the city’s Auld Bond Road.

Perth Sheriff Court heard the 19-year-old was approached by officers just after 11pm on February 23 2023 and searched over matters no longer before the court.

Prosecutor Stuart Hamilton said: “When cautioned, the accused said he had it (the knife) for protection as he thought that Perth was a dangerous place.”

A not guilty plea to a possession of cannabis charge was accepted.

Solicitor David Sinclair said his client was a kitchen porter on his way home from a late shift and the knife had been to open boxes at work.

He said: “This explanation mat not sit right with the comment he made to police.

“This was simply a glib response he made to officers because he did not have an excuse for having the knife away from his workplace.

“He had no intention of using it.”

Machowski, of Angus Court, Perth, was fined £420 by Sheriff Neil Kinnear, who said:
“Making up a comment to officers light-heartedly was maybe not the best way to respond in this case.”

Busted

A woman who smuggled drugs into maximum security Perth Prison inside her bra was spared being jailed herself. Repeat offender Gillian Smith was spotted by staff delivering a package containing a mobile phone, cannabis and liquid cannabinoid THC.

Weeping robber

An armed robber who wept as he held up a Perth shopkeeper at knifepoint has been placed on a curfew.

Reece Lochrie walked into the County News store with a knife and demanded money from the till but the 25-year-old was foiled when an employee recognised him as a regular customer who lived across the street.

He left in tears with just a packet of cigarettes and a lighter.

When he was later traced by police, he told them: “I’ve done something stupid.”

Lochrie returned to Perth Sheriff Court for sentencing, having previously pled guilty to a single charge of assault and robbery on April 24.

Sheriff Alison McKay said the offence merited a custodial sentence but deferred until December 16 for a further assessment to check if the father-of-one is fit for unpaid work.

She placed Lochrie on a bail curfew, meaning he cannot leave his County Place flat between 7pm and 7am.

He must also engage in the Right Track young offenders programme.

Cut throat threat

A thug threatened two takeaway workers with razors in Forfar after racially abusing them because he was told he could not use the shop toilet. Brian Stewart, 39, placed razor blades on the counter of the Istanbul Pizza and Kebab Shop and made cut-throat gestures to staff.

Pharmacy chaos

James Guthrie, 32, of Abbey View, Dunfermline went on the rampage at a Fife pharmacy and told staff he would take a metal grinder to their shutters after being unable to get medicine.

Fiscal depute Christine Allan told Dunfermline Sheriff Court: “He went up to the privacy screen and began ranting to the witnesses that he had lost his medication and needed a new one.

“He said he wouldn’t get any medication without a prescription.

“He became angry and attempted to smash the privacy screen and tried to pull at the plastic divider.”

Guthrie then begun throwing items from the pharmacy shelves.

“There were other customers, who had to leave due to the accused behaviour.

“They (the staff) offered to help him get a new prescription but the accused threatened ‘Have you ever had a chocolate cake punched in your puss?’”

Guthrie threatened to come back to the shop later, telling staff “Just because you have shutters it doesn’t matter because I have a grinder.”

He called staff “a f***ing grass” when police arrived.

Guthrie admitted behaving in a threatening and abusive manner at Well Pharmacy in Abbey View on March 28 and resisting police officers.

He was jailed for 10 months.

Cafe boss cocaine

Former Stirling café boss Derek Crews from Fife bought cocaine for “personal use only” after his business failed due to Covid. At Stirling Sheriff Court he pled guilty to being concerned in the supply of the class A drug on the basis the drugs were not for commercial use.

Impressed sheriff

A drug mule “impressed” a Sheriff with his entrepreneurial spirit.

Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard Murdo Friel had set up a “fledgling” ground-working business but prior to opening his new enterprise, the 20-year-old had been helping a friend distribute cocaine.

Friel was spotted by police at 3.30am and when stopped, they could smell cannabis from his car and he admitted having £880 worth of cocaine in his underwear.

Friel, of High Street, Strathmiglo, admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine on the M90 at Rosyth on April 8 last year.

Sheriff Krista Johnston told Friel she was impressed her was trying to make something of himself and placed him on a nine-month supervision order with 130 hours of unpaid work.

Loch Tay tragedy

A hotel boss drowned in Perthshire after a JCB he was working with toppled off a pier in a tragic accident, a sheriff has ruled. Hotel director Greg Deakin, 48, was shifting material as part of a project to create a new marina at the Ardeonaig Hotel near Killin on the banks of Loch Tay, a fatal accident inquiry at Stirling heard.

106mph

Arbroath speeder Steven Elder, 32, has been banned from driving for 55 days after travelling at 106mph on the A92.

Police at a static stop near Muirdrum clocked him at around 5.45pm on July 28 this year.

At Forfar JP Court, he said “It’s my partner’s Zetec S, it’s quite a quick car.
“I wasn’t paying attention to the speed I was driving. I totally take full responsibility.”

JP David Meek banned Elder, of Ness Drive in Arbroath and fined him £280 plus a £20 victim surcharge.

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