Weekend court roll – our round-up of the most-read cases of the week

Our reporters have been sitting in courtrooms across the north and north-east this week and covered a wide variety of cases – from the ex-Don accused of drink driving to the young woman who blackmailed men who were cheating on their wives and girlfriends.

On Monday, a man serving a life sentence for the brutal murder of a north-east dad was told he must serve a further three months behind bars after threatening to break a prison guard’s face.

Dean Leech and five other men were sentenced to more than 100 years in prison after they set upon Gary Clampett with weapons including a machete, sword, chain and a hammer.

Leech was sentenced to 16 years and nine months in April 2018 for the deadly attack in Fraserburgh the previous June.

The 28-year-old’s threats towards the guards at HMP Grampian came as a result of him struggling to come to terms with the length of his sentence, Peterhead Sheriff Court was told.

Declined card sparked tirade of abuse

In Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Monday a drunken customer was ordered to pay a shop assistant £200 compensation after turning abusive when his card was declined.

Stephen Greig was trying to buy cider from the shop when he flew into a foul-mouthed rage, warning the female worker she “didn’t realise what she had started”.

The 54-year-old’s antics in the Co-op on Sclattie Park, Bucksburn, were branded “absolutely disgraceful” by Sheriff Duncan Ferguson.

Former Dons star in court on drink driving charge

Former Aberdeen FC star Shay Logan appeared in the same court on Tuesday where he denied dangerous driving while more than triple the legal alcohol limit.

Logan, whose contract with the Dons expired this summer, was in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court to face charges of dangerous driving and drink driving.

The 33-year-old is accused of driving dangerously on the A944 Aberdeen to Westhill road on June 25.

It is alleged he drove in excess of the speed limit, braked harshly, straddled two lanes at a roundabout, repeatedly lost control of the vehicle, narrowly avoiding colliding with kerbs and swerving between lanes.

Men snared by blackmailer on sugar daddy websites

A young woman blackmailed men who were using sugar daddy websites out of hundreds of pounds after threatening to tell their wives and girlfriends what they’d been up to.

Tiffany Anderson extorted almost £1,300 from four men in the space of a year, with one victim stumping up around £600 for fear his girlfriend would find out he had joined the adults-only site.

The 23-year-old, from Aberdeen, created fake profiles on Secretbenefits.com and Seeking.com before encouraging those who made contact to swap mobile phone numbers.

She would then offer the men videos and photos of a sexual nature and, if they accepted, use their messages against them to extort money.

Anderson sent screenshots of their friends and family’s Facebook pages along with a threat: “Don’t even think about blocking me.”

Divorced dad’s Christmas day abuse towards ex-wife

A divorced dad subjected his estranged wife to a barrage of disgusting messages after discovering she’d joined a dating website.

Mario de Stefano, 55, sent the mother of his three children hundreds of abusive, derogatory and menacing texts – including 91 on Christmas Day alone.

Although their 23-year marriage had ended a year earlier, it wasn’t until he realised she had joined a dating website that he began his torrent of abuse via Whatsapp.

He admitted sending the abusive messages and was sentenced at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.

Mum films herself racially abusing shop worker

A mum filmed herself racially abusing a shop assistant and threatened to post the video on Facebook.

Lauren Tough flew into a rage when told to leave Amyes Grocery and Off-licence on Great Northern Road because she was banned.

The 21-year-old launched into a sickening verbal racist attack on the female shop worker, telling her she had “no right” to be in Scotland and should “go back” to her own country.

And Tough even took out her phone to record the vile incident, which happened in front of her young, son and threatened to share it on social media.

Dishonest teen raided girlfriend’s bank account and stole inheritance

A teenager who secretly raided his girlfriend’s bank account and made off with more than £15,000 of her inheritance has appeared in the dock.

Jordan Edwards was just 17 when he helped himself to thousands of pounds of his then-girlfriend’s cash.

Edwards, now 19, made a total of 88 transactions amounting to £15,483.20 in little more than two months.

The teen, who had only been in a relationship with the girl for eight months, initially owned up to stealing £700 before his victim discovered the horrifying extent of his dishonestly.

Covid-19 sufferer crashed car when he should have been self-isolating

A Covid-19 sufferer who crashed his car when he should have been self-isolating has been banned from driving and ordered to pay £4,500 in compensation.

Lee Graham, 25, was under the influence of drugs when he put several police officers, NHS workers and a member of the public at risk by failing to disclose that he was carrying the virus on Boxing Day last year.

Appearing at Lerwick Sheriff Court Graham, of Gott, admitted driving on the A970 at Girlsta while unfit through drink or drugs.

He also admitted culpably and recklessly failing to self-isolate or socially distance – exposing numerous people to the risk of contracting the virus to the danger of their lives.

Clothes shop boss tells of relief after being cleared of selling knock-off goods

A businesswoman today spoke of her “sheer relief” after being cleared of knowingly selling counterfeit designer gear at her two north-east clothes stores.

Trading standards officers claimed sandals, purses and handbags on sale at Dorothy Jack’s shops in Peterhead and Keith broke the trademarks of big-name fashion brands such as Michael Kors, Gucci and Kipling.

Dorothy’s stores were visited by trading standards officials in March 2019 and they believed VK sandals on sale closely resembled those made by designer brand Michael Kors.

Speaking after a sheriff cleared her of all charges, the 59-year-old said it has been “two-and-a-half years of absolute misery”.

Man mocked supermarket worker’s speech impediment

A man who mocked a supermarket worker’s speech impediment and continues to hold a prejudice against physically disabled people has been jailed for four months.

Scott Anderson, 31, directed the humiliating remarks at a Co-op worker earlier this year.

Lerwick Sheriff Court was told Anderson was motivated by a prejudice against people with disabilities.

Anderson, of Hoofields, Lerwick, admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause fear or alarm on 2 May this year by directing derogatory and abusive comments at the employee at the Holmsgarth Road store.

Sheriff Iain Cruickshank said he had “real difficulty” with a criminal justice report that made clear Anderson continues to believe people with physical disabilities should be excluded from customer-facing jobs.

Woman banned from keeping horses

On Thursday, a woman was banned from keeping horses for five years after SSPCA inspectors discovered a pony “severely underweight” and suffering from lice and redworms.

Gail Vines had been juggling a divorce, childcare and work, so had only been checking on her field of nine horses on the way home, shining a torch to check they were all there.

The 64-year-old failed to notice pony Eve had become unwell and underweight due to redworms causing digestive issues and diarrhoea.

The animal was also suffering from skin lesions and lice when SSPCA inspectors found her and took her away to be treated.

Motorbike crash victim was drugs courier

A man who was caught with over £25,000 of heroin after crashing his motorbike has been jailed for 15 months.

Garry Collie, who was seriously injured in the accident on Thornhill Road in Elgin, was unmasked as a drug courier when his stash was discovered in a rucksack.

Inverness Sheriff Court heard previously that police officers who attended the July 28 2019 accident were given the backpack by paramedics.

Fiscal depute Alex Swain said that the zip was open and officers could see inside that there was a brown taped package, a bag containing brown powder and £1556 of money inside another bag.

Woman denies disfiguring child by making him go through operations he didn’t need

A woman is accused of putting a boy’s life in danger by making him go through operations he did not need.

Tracy Anne Menhinick is charged with wilfully ill-treating the child between April 2014 and July 2017 including at Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital in the city.

The 49-year-old is said to have administered Lactulose – listed on the indictment as a “non prescribed medication”.

Prosecutors claim this caused the boy’s development and mobility to be affected.

Smash and grab raid at city hairdresser

Cops used DNA evidence to snare a thief who smashed his way into a city centre hairdresser.

Colin West used a brick to smash a glass panel in the front door of Demilo on Little Belmont Street and ransacked the premises, rummaging through drawers and cupboards.

The 51-year-old stole an iPhone and a pair of scissors.

But police managed to trace West after blood swabs taken from the scene provided a DNA profile matching him.

Man who had sex with underage girls jailed for three years

A sex offender who had intercourse with two underage girls and sent indecent communications to youngsters was jailed for three years today.

A judge rejected a plea to spare Blair Thomson, 23, a jail sentence following his sex crimes against children.

Lord Harrower told Thomson that he had come to the conclusion that there was no alternative to a custodial sentence, having regard to his offending as a whole and particularly the charges of having sex with the girls.

The judge said at the High Court in Edinburgh that there had been a pattern of indecent communication with younger girls and added: “It is appropriate to describe this pattern of behaviour as a form of grooming.”

Teen guilty of double stabbing in Highland fishing village

A teenager who stabbed two men in a dispute over an unpaid debt has been found guilty after a four-day trial.

Dylan Thorpe had two knives and stabbed former pal Dylan McWhinney, 25, and as well as his friend, 26-year-old fisherman Jordan Megbaghandu.

His trial, at Inverness Sheriff Court, was delayed by a day after he failed to turn up on Thursday.

The court heard that the violence took place in Mill Street in Ullapool on the night of July 31 last year.

Drink driver in prang with lorry

An offshore Covid technician who crashed into a lorry while more than four times the alcohol limit told police THEY had ruined her job.

Donna McGregor had hit the drink after returning from a stressful shift offshore and then decided to drive to the shop to buy more booze at lunchtime the following day.

But the 56-year-old managed to reverse into a lamppost and then collide with a lorry on Byron Square in Aberdeen on July 7, before driving off.

Police were called and, when they arrested her, McGregor brazenly blamed them for putting her job in jeopardy.