Dundee woman accused of selling farmed pups

Defence claims Scottish SPCA pressured accused to film puppy farm

Detectives told a Tayside woman suspected of selling puppy farm dogs that she would be called Cruella de Vil if she did not comply with their questioning, a court heard.

Jaimie Rose Colquhoun from Dundee went on trial at Forfar Sheriff Court yesterday, facing allegations she sold puppies at car parks in Arbroath and Dundee.

The court heard evidence the 26-yearold ferried litters over from Ireland and sold them without proper identification via the Gumtree website.

Colquhoun told the court that at one point she was offered the chance to go “undercover” and film one of the Irish puppy farms and that in return she would be able to avoid court.

The Scottish SPCA twice visited Colquhoun following reports that a “morkie” puppy had quickly become ill from parvovirus after she sold it in Arbroath.

But Scottish SPCA inspector Neil Gilmour was accused of interviewing the mother of two like a “bulldozer” on a second visit to her Dunholme Road home in 2015.

During the trial, depute fiscal Stewart Duncan asked the former wildlife crime policeman how Colquhoun obtained puppies, which the Tesco call centre worker sold from her car boot at Arbroath’s Pleasureland and the Morrisons car park in Dundee, in March and July 2015.

The court heard an account of crossings Colquhoun had made to secure around 10 litters of puppies “over the years”.

“I buy them from Ireland – a man called Thomas,” Mr Gilmour read from his notebook.

“I pick them up from Holyhead in southern Ireland. “Thomas will text me once a month. “I will travel as a foot passenger and bring litters back in carriers.

“A friend on Gumtree told me about it.”

Colquhoun said: “They told me if I went to Ireland, there’d be someone else with me.

“If I could film a puppy farm... this wouldn’t go to the court.”

Defence agent Ian Houston said his client felt pressured to comply with questioning and was “alarmed” about the allegations becoming public.

“The issue of puppy farming is quite an emotive one,” Mr Houston said.

“Members of the public can react quite violently if they believe someone is connected with that.”

Mr Duncan said to Colquhoun: “There was no threat of windows being put in, or dog (excrement) going through your door.”

“That’s what they said members of the public would do,” the accused replied.

Following evidence, Mr Houston moved that both interviews were “unfair” due to “so many shortcomings in the prosecution version of events” and they should not be admitted in evidence.

“This is a vulnerable young woman in that she was taken advantage of and these interviews were unfair,” the solicitor said

Mr Duncan said: “She was offered the services of a solicitor at both interviews and she declined.”

Sheriff Gregor Murray said: “The overwhelming impression I had from the accused is she didn’t know how much trouble she was in when they came to see her... possibly because they weren’t police officers.”

The trial continues.

This is a vulnerable young woman in that she was taken advantage of and these interviews were unfair. IAN HOUSTON