Man faces trial over alleged abusive MP posts

A MAN has continued to deny repeatedly posting abusive and threatening Facebook comments about former Conservative MP Ross Thomson.

Reece Cuthbert, a prisoner of HMP Perth, allegedly sent indecent Facebook communications to Mr Thomson while he was still serving as an MP.

The ex-Aberdeen South politician stood down in November 2019 amid accusations he sexually assaulted a Labour MP in a Westminster bar.

He was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards in October last year.

Cuthbert, 26, allegedly sent the messages from his home on Haddington Avenue and elsewhere on July 13 2019.

Prosecutors allege he used Facebook to send messages that were “grossly offensive or of indecent, obscene or menacing character”.

Then, on October 7 2019, Cuthbert allegedly provided false information to police in an attempt to pervert the course of justice.

He was not present when the case called for an intermediate diet at Dundee Sheriff Court when defence solicitor Paul Parker-Smith said Cuthbert was sticking with his previous pleas of not guilty.

His trial had been due to go ahead in March but was postponed until an unspecified date.

A COUPLE have been accused of stealing an iPad from an alleyway.

William Neilson, 48, and 29-year-old Clayre Stewart allegedly committed the offence on June 2 last year at an address on Hilltown.

Prosecutors also allege that Neilson breached bail conditions by approaching a man in City Square on August 22 last year by shouting at him and calling him a “grass”.

Neilson and Stewart, of Tulloch Court, both pleaded not guilty to the charges at Dundee Sheriff Court.

Sheriff Jillian MartinBrown fixed a trial for November.

FORMER timelord Peter Capaldi is selling off one of his most treasured Doctor Who scripts to raise cash for a Kinross children’s charity.

The Thick Of It star has donated the signed and personalised screenplay to CHAS – Children’s Hospices Across Scotland – for an auction.

Embellished with hand-written messages, the shooting script marks the Glaswegian actor’s last ever appearance as the twelfth Doctor and is expected to generate huge interest from fans.

Capaldi said he was happy to hand over his script for The Doctor Falls, written by Steven Moffat.