Man defied ban and hid from police under house floorboards

COURT: Final chance for city 20-year-old who broke terms of Asbo

A “ringleader” who was banned from a Dundee housing estate for orchestrating a crime wave has been given a final chance to redeem himself after breaking the terms of his anti-social behaviour order (Asbo).

Callum Rae, 20, was found hiding under the floorboards of a house to evade arrest when police came for him on Christmas Eve.

Yesterday he faced six charges including assault, failing to appear in court, threatening behaviour, being in contact with a child contrary to a bail condition and breaking an Asbo prohibiting him from entering Mill o’ Mains. Sheriff Lorna Drummond imposed a community payback order as an alternative to custody at Dundee Sheriff Court.

When he was 16, Rae was banned from Mill o’ Mains after 20 separate incidents of anti-social behaviour involving a gang of youths, of which he was the leader.

“If you don’t comply with your order you will be brought back to court and I can send you to jail.

SHERIFF LORNA DRUMMOND

At the time he was staying in his 76-year-old grandmother’s house against her will, inviting large numbers of youths into her cottage.

The chaos reached such a level that 22 residents held an emergency public meeting in the summer of 2016.

Rae was eventually slapped with a two-year Asbo, which he broke by entering Barra Terrace on May 15 2018.

On August 19 2018 he failed to appear for a hearing at Dundee Sheriff Court.

The following year, on May 24 2019, Rae, now residing at the Lily Walker homeless centre, shouted and swore at his partner at Riddell Terrace.

On the same date, at a property in Forfar, he was found in the presence of a seven-month-old baby, breaching a bail condition banning him from unsupervised contact with children.

He also tried to pervert justice by hiding beneath floor boards at a property in Riddell Terrace on May 24.

He admitted all offences and was placed under supervision for 18 months, ordered to take part in the Respect programme, to carry out 210 hours of unpaid work and to stay in his accommodation between 7pm and 7am for two and a half months.

Sheriff Drummond said: “If you don’t comply with your order you will be brought back to court and I can send you to jail.”