Man lost plot over loo roll

A Perth man lost the plot after discovering there was no loo paper in the toilet.

And during a lengthy bust-up with his pregnant girlfriend, she feared for her safety - and that of her unborn child.

Twenty-one-year-old James Sinclair started shouting and swearing at his partner, who has subsequently given birth, Perth Sheriff Court was told this week.

The woman was so frightened at his angry tirade that she retreated to the bathroom and texted her grandmother.

She then attempted to contact the police but on hearing that he “burst into the bathroom” and grabbed her by the clothing, according to depute fiscal Rebecca Kynaston.

“He then spat on her. She was concerned for her safety and that of her unborn child,” added the fiscal.

“She was crying throughout the incident.”

Sinclair, of Strathtay Road, admitted an amended charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner towards his then partner and shouting and swearing at her in her flat at Wallace Court, Perth, on August 28 this year.

Part of the charge which claimed that he threatened to kill her, harm her unborn baby and then wreck the house was deleted.

Allegations that he grabbed her by the hair and attempted to bite her were also removed.

The fiscal explained that the victim was seven months’ pregnant at the time.

The argument erupted at about 11am and she made attempts to calm him down but he “became more angry and aggressive.”

Sinclair left the house but was traced by the police two days later.

Solicitor Paul Ralph said that his client was “under pressure” due to the upcoming birth and confirmed that the argument had started over a toilet roll.

He told the court on Wednesday that the couple were “now in discussions” regarding their future.

“Hopefully things will be much steadier,” he added.

Sheriff William Wood ordered the accused to take part in the Right Track programme, designed to keep wayward youngsters on the straight and narrow.

Warning Sinclair to “stay out of further trouble,” the sheriff said his progress would be reviewed on March 22.

A teenager, high on psychoactive substances, terrorised his parents when he attacked their front door with an axe, causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage.

Taimoor Khan, who was 19 at the time and had been asked to leave the house, then sat in their garden and waited for the police to arrive and arrest him.

The incident led to him being ordered to complete a further 120 hours of unpaid work within the next four months when he appeared at Perth Sheriff Court on Wednesday.

The Community Payback Order was imposed as a “direct alternative” to a custodial sentence.

In a separate incident five months earlier, he was found in possession of a lock knife and an ‘old-style’ police baton when he was searched at a local hospital.

That led to Khan having to complete 105 hours of unpaid work when he appeared in court in September, on his 20th birthday.

He was also told to undergo drug treatment and be supervised for six months.

He admitted that on August 24, at his parents’ home at Carngeal, Crieff Road, Almondbank, he repeatedly struck the door with the axe. He also pled guilty to being in possession of the knife and wooden baton on the A85, between Lochty and Perth - and at Murray Royal Hospital - on March 21.

Social work and psychiatric reports had been ordered to establish whether there was “an element of paranoia” which had led to the incidents.

The court heard that Khan caused £500 of damage when he smashed several panes of glass with the axe after being told he was “no longer welcome” at the house because of his behaviour.

After delivering the initial blow, he “struck the door a further three or four times,” according to depute fiscal Rebecca Kynaston.

He then placed the axe at the door and went to sit on a log until he “told police his story.”

Police had been alerted to the March incident by the accused’s father.

Khan had also been in touch with officers as be believed his neighbours at Almondbank were “against him” because of his race.

“Officers expressed concern regarding his mental health and he agreed to attend at Murray Royal on a voluntary basis,” explained the fiscal.

The truncheon and knife were discovered when he was searched.

Solicitor Mike Tavendale said the accused was normally “a very placid and polite individual.”

The two incidents had taken place “most likely after taking amphetamine.”

Khan had earlier been warned by Sheriff William Wood regarding the dangers of continuing to use psychoactive substances.

The court heard on Wednesday that he had been progressing well with the earlier Community Payback Order and had completed the unpaid work. That order was allowed to continue. Mr Tavendale said the accused was now living in a flat in Dundee owned by his parents.

A Highland Perthshire man, made the subject of a life-long sexual offences prevention order, was caught with photographs of naked young girls, aged 10-14.

The indecent images were discovered after detectives made an unannounced visit to the home of Robert Holmes at East Lodge, on the Bolfracks Estate, Aberfeldy.

The 45-year-old will discover his fate on February 1 after a psychological report has been obtained.

He was remanded in custody meantime by Sheriff Gillian Wade following his latest appearance at Perth Sheriff Court on Wednesday.

Holmes admitted having the indecent photographs in his possession at his home between May 16 and July 6, 2016, and downloading them between May 16 and July 4.

He also pled guilty to a third charge of contravening the terms of the sexual offences order by being in possession of a memory stick at East Lodge on July 6.

The court was told that the accused, a registered sex offender, had moved north from Yorkshire on May 28, 2016.

He had been jailed for 12 months at Leeds Crown Court in March, 2007, for possessing indecent photographs of children.

He was also banned for life from working with youngsters - and ordered not to possess or download any images of children under 16 - as part of the sexual offences prevention order.

Depute fiscal Carol Whyte said that police carried out an unannounced visit to the accused’s home on Wednesday, July 6, this year.

A laptop computer and a Nokia mobile phone were on “open view” at his address.

The accused, described as a prisoner at Perth, also produced a further mobile phone which he said he had recently bought.

It was “capable” of accessing the internet, the court heard.

He gave his consent to the computer and phone being examined and “concerning search terms” - and images - were found, explained the fiscal.

Holmes then voluntarily produced a USB pen where the images had been stored.

Three of the images appeared to be of children under the age of 16, which breached the terms of the sexual offences prevention order.

“As a result of that, the accused was arrested and taken to Perth police office,” added Ms Whyte.

When the USB pen drive was forensically examined, the three Category C images of naked young girls were discovered.

They had been “created” on May 16, 2016.

A risk assessment has already been prepared on Holmes but now a psychological report has also been ordered.

A violent prisoner went on the run from an open prison while preparing for his release at a charity project in Perth.

Thirty-one-year-old David Arthur had been jailed for six years and eight months for repeatedly stabbing an amateur boxer – to his severe injury, permanent disfigurement and to the danger of his life – at his home in August, 2013.

The accused was transferred to Castle Huntly, Longforgan, on July 5 this year, Perth Sheriff Court was told this week.

As part of his training for freedom, he was allowed to work at the Salvation Army furniture project at Perth’s Riverview Business Park, in the harbour area of the city. But he legged it from there on October 17 after he had been refused home leave to visit his ill grandmother.

Perth police warned the public not to approach him but to immediately report any sightings.

Following “extensive inquiries,” the on-the-run inmate was traced to a flat in Renfrew where he was found sitting on a single bed with an associate, depute fiscal John Malpass told the court.

Arthur’s three days of freedom earned him a further 15 months behind bars after he admitted attempting to defeat the ends of justice by absconding from the Carse of Gowrie jail.

Arthur has a lengthy record of over 50 previous convictions, which include violence, drugs and public disorder.

Arthur’s lawyer said that his client had been due to be released on parole on April 3 next year and his earliest liberation date was to have been June, 2018.

As a result, he had been transferred to a closed prison in Kilmarnock and had lost a number of privileges.

He had been told his grandmother was “extremely unwell” and decided to abscond.

“He recognises, in hindsight, this was extremely foolish. It also had an adverse effect on her by causing her additional stress.”

The prison sentence will run consecutive to Arthur’s current jail term which was imposed at Glasgow High Court on December 3, 2013.

The High Court in Glasgow was told the attack took place after Arthur’s girlfriend was allegedly hurt in an earlier dispute with boxer Douglas Ferguson.

Arthur said he took a knife to confront Mr Ferguson as he felt “physically incapable” of dealing with him.

Arthur confronted Mr Ferguson as he went to take the bins out at his home.

Arthur repeatedly stabbed his victim, who yelled: “What are you trying to do - murder me?”

He then chased Mr Ferguson onto the road before leaving the scene of the attack.

Mr Ferguson was rushed to hospital having suffered a number of wounds to the buttocks.

Despite being ordered not to go near Mr Ferguson, Arthur later turned up at his home while armed with an axe.

Two Perthshire residents admitted wilfully neglecting a young baby in circumstances likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to the child’s health.

Twenty-seven-year-old Deborah McNeill and Bruce Stevenson (35), both of Crieff, failed to provide the youngster with adequate hygiene or care.

The infant was also denied clean clothing and footwear - and they omitted to seek medical attention when the child needed it.

The contravention of the 1937 Children and Young Persons’ Act took place over a two-week period from March 16-30, at an address near Crieff.

Not guilty pleas were accepted, however, to three other charges relating to a total of three young children.

The pair were to have faced trial at Perth Sheriff Court last month but a guilty plea was accepted by the prosecution to the single charge.

Solicitor Billy Somerville said that the pair had been unable to cope.

They were now co-operating fully with the social work department on a voluntary basis.

Sheriff William Wood told them: “Clearly the circumstances which gave rise to these matters must have been pretty extreme, given very few people appear in court charged with this type of offence.

“It does give some indication the concern the social workers had when matters were reported to the police.”

He noted that the “significant level of input” from the social work department wasn’t going to go away “any time soon.”

He deferred sentence on the pair until June 21 next year and called for a supplementary background report to ensure their level of engagement was still “high.”

A hapless criminal made it easy for police after he broke into a Strathearn cottage and made off with two shotguns, valued at £2700, from a stash of firearms kept in a locked gun cabinet.

For 52-year-old Andrew Young, of St Catherine’s Road, Perth, had left his fingerprints and DNA at the crime scene.

He was also left stranded after the unnamed person who had organised the theft failed to return and pick him up.

That resulted in Young trudging the 13 miles back to Perth after he abandoned the stolen property near a sawmill.

And to add insult to injury, he wasn’t paid the £300 he had been promised for what he was told was “an insurance job.”

What he did get, however, was almost three years behind bars when he appeared on indictment at Perth Sheriff Court on Tuesday.

He admitted breaking into the house near Crieff on October 4, 2016, and using a key to gain access to the locked gun cabinet before stealing the two firearms.

He also stole a streaming stick and two bluetooth speakers from Tesco in Edinburgh Road, Perth, on October 17.

Police described Young as a “career criminal” who has 52 previous convictions stretching back to 1980.

Depute fiscal John Malpass said that one of the people who lived at the “isolated country location” was a registered firearms and shotgun holder and had over 30 years’ experience in shooting.

The house was left secure but unoccupied between 9.25am and 11am on the morning of October 4.

It was later discovered that someone had broken in via the back door and removed two of the shotguns.

A search of the surrounding area led to the weapons being discovered in a black holdall, inside a black-coloured golf bag.

An examination was carried out and fingerprints were obtained from the back door and DNA from the canvas bag. They led police to the accused who was traced at his home on November 1.

The items stolen from Tesco were worth £84 and all were recovered.

Solicitor Cliff Culley said his client had been asked by someone to steal the two shotguns.

He added: “He thought it was an insurance job and the items would be sold to a gamekeeper.”

“He was offered £300. This person took him to the locus, about 13 miles from Perth, and he was dropped off.”

After gaining access to the house, he found the shotguns in the bedroom and took them.

He waited 45 minutes for the same person to pick him up but when he failed to appear he left the weapons 10-15 yards from the house and then walked home.

Young is on a methadone prescription but his lawyer explained: “He was using illicit drugs at the time and needed money to pay for them.

“He very much regrets his actions. The circumstances of the crime were somewhat foolish and unsophisticated.”