DANGEROUS DRIVING CHARGE
A 48-year-old woman appeared in private at Jedburgh Sheriff Court (pictured) accused of causing serious injury to two men by dangerous driving.
Lisa Maxwell, from Ancrum, made no plea or declaration. Her case was continued for further examination and she was bailed.
It follows a two-car collision on the A698 Kelso-Jedburgh road at Crailing at around 7am on March 14. Three people, who had to be released by firefighters from the vehicles, were taken to Borders General Hospital.
ASSAULT ACCUSED BAILED
A Galashiels man appeared from custody charged with assaulting a man to his severe injury.
Victor Brown, 46, of Larch Grove, made a brief appearance in private, making no plea or declaration. The case was continued for further examination and Brown was released on bail.
It follows an incident in Melrose on Saturday.
TEENAGER ON TRIAL
A Hawick teenager will stand trial at Jedburgh Sheriff Court on an assault charge.
Liam Sharkey, 19, of Howdenbank, is accused of striking a male on the head with his head to his injury in North Bridge Street, Hawick, on February 6. He is also charged with threatening or abusive behaviour in Croft Road, Hawick.
The trial has been set for October 6.
CANNABIS CHARGES
A 31-year-old woman has been accused of producing cannabis at her Lilliesleaf home.
Holly Speed, of Main Street, also denies being in possession of the class B drug.
An intermediate hearing at Jedburgh Sheriff Court was continued until Thursday (September 22).
REMANDED IN CUSTODY
A Hawick man has been remanded in custody after being accused of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, aggravated by prejudice relating to disability.
Jason Lowe, 34, denies shouting and swearing and acting in an intimidating manner. He is alleged to have called a young man with a learning disability “retarded”, as well as a “paedophile” and a “pervert”.
It is claimed the offence took place in Dovemount Place, Hawick, on August 31.
Mat Patrick, defending, said it would be unfair to keep Lowe locked up until his trial date on October 6. But Sheriff Peter Paterson refused a motion for bail.
REPORTS ORDERED
Background reports have been ordered into an Earlston woman who refused to give samples of breath when suspected of drinking and driving.
Julie Taylor, 49, admitted failing to co-operate with a preliminary breath test at her Haughhead home last month. She also admitted failing to provide two samples of breath at Galashiels police station.
Sheriff Peter Paterson deferred sentence until October 17 for a criminal justice social work report to be prepared, as well as imposing an interim driving ban.
RIDER DENIES DRINK-DRIVING
A Kelso man has been accused of riding a motorcycle while double the alcohol limit.
Peter Darlington, 60, of Springwood Rise, denies having a breath/alcohol count of 44 microgrammes – the legal limit is 22 – on the A6089 near Kelso on August 20.
A trial date has been fixed for December 1 at Jedburgh Sheriff Court, with an intermediate hearing on October 31.
WOMAN FACES ASSAULT TRIAL
A Hawick woman will stand trial on an assault charge.
Antonia Robertson, 21, of Hillend Drive, denies seizing Clare Treanor by the hair and repeatedly punching her on the body to her injury. The offence is alleged to have been committed in Overhaugh Street, Galashiels, on March 5.
A trial date has been set for September 27 at Selkirk Sheriff Court.
OVERTAKING ALLEGATION
Alexander McCombe, 62, of Bedrule, is accused of driving a motor pick-up dangerously by overtaking vehicles in the face of oncoming traffic.
The offence is alleged to have been committed on the A698 between Heiton and Eckford on June 5.
A trial date has been set for December 1 at Jedburgh Sheriff Court, with an intermediate hearing on October 31.
SENTENCE DEFERRED
A Hawick man will be sentenced next month on a charge of engaging in a course of conduct which caused his former partner fear and alarm.
Michael Paterson, 39, of Howdenbank, pleaded guilty to sending her abusive and threatening text messages, making abusive and threatening telephone calls, turning up at her home uninvited, and entering her address near Hawick without permission, shouting and swearing, making offensive and abusive comments, and acting in an aggressive manner.
The offence happened on various occasions between June 2015 and July 2015.
Paterson was due to be sentenced on Tuesday, but through no fault of his, background reports were not available. Sentence was deferred until October 31 for the reports to be compiled.
A Crown application for a non-harassment was continued until that date.
WASTED POLICE TIME
Sentence has been deferred on a Hawick woman for a personal appearance after she admitted wasting police time.
Kylie Gray, 27, falsely claimed that her bag had been stolen, rendering the lieges liable to suspicion and accusation of theft at her home in McLaren Court on May 12.
Then case will recall at Jedburgh Sheriff Court on October 17.
THIEVING PAINTER
A painter and decorator has admitted stealing £900 worth of jewellery while working in a house in The Tofts areas of Kelso.
Terry West, of Mansefield Court, Kelso, committed the offence on May 21.
Sentence was deferred at Jedburgh Sheriff Court until October 3 for a personal appearance.
STRUGGLED WITH POLICE
A Galashiels man has admitted struggling with police during a disturbance in the town’s Marigold Bank.
Simon Hadden, who is 38 and lives in nearby Hawthorn Road, also pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner on August 12.
Sentence was deferred at Selkirk Sheriff Court until October 11 as background reports have already been ordered into another offence – Hadden admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, shouting and swearing and making offensive gestures and remarks in Wetherspoons, High Street, Galashiels.
CASE IS DESERTED
A Peebles woman accused of uttering threats to harm herself while in possession of a knife has had the case against her deserted at Selkirk Sheriff Court.
Rachel Hood, 34, had pleaded not guilty to a charge of threatening or abusive behaviour at her Kingsland Square home in June last year.
ACCUSED OF EIGHT OFFENCES
A 33-year-old man is due to stand trial at Selkirk Sheriff Court next month accused of committing eight offences in Innerleithen.
Colin McLean, of Bountrees, Jedburgh, is charged with throwing glass bottles at windows in High Street on July 1, damaging the windows and creating potential danger to the public as there were pedestrians around. He denies wilfully or recklessly damaging the windows of the Allotment Shop and Tweeddale Thrift Shop before walking into the path of an ambulance and then entering the rear of the vehicle without permission and refusing to leave while rummaging through an equipment bag and being aggressive towards paramedics.
McLean also pleads not guilty to being in possession of an offensive weapon, namely a glass bottle, brandishing a broken bottle at a man and lunging at him and struggling violently with two police constables.
The trial is scheduled for October 11.
ATTACKED UNDER PROVOCATION
A Galashiels man who punched a man under provocation in a town-centre bust-up has been fined £125 at Selkirk Sheriff Court.
Jordan Cunningham, 21, of Church Square, pleaded guilty to the assault on Kevin Wilkinson late at night in Overhaugh Street.
Graham Fraser, prosecuting, said the victim had been drinking all day and got involved in an altercation with a number of people, including Cunningham, who aimed a punch at him, knocking him over and striking his head on the ground. The victim had a five-inch cut on the back of his head which required glued.
Cunningham was also fined another £200 for breaches of bail and his antisocial behaviour order.
COMMENT LED TO PUNCH
Punching a stranger in the face during a Saturday night out in Galashiels cost a 20-year-old man a total of £400 at Selkirk Sheriff Court.
Liam Brown pleaded guilty to the assault which happened in September last year.
Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser said there was an altercation between the two men in a pub and the argument spilled out into the street. He explained how Brown, of Clearburn Road, Gorebridge, punched the 42-year-old victim in the face, knocking him to the ground, and ran off when police arrived in Channel Street.
The man appeared to have been knocked out and suffered soreness to his left cheek, resulting in the victim being off work for a week.
Brown’s lawyer, Melissa Virtue, said her client responded after the victim made a derogatory comment about his brother’s girlfriend, who he was in company with.
She added Brown was disappointed that he was intoxicated and reacted to the silly comment.
Sheriff Valerie Johnston imposed a fine of £250 and ordered Brown to pay £150 compensation to his victim.
CONSTABLE RACIALLY ABUSED
Background reports have been ordered into a 22-year-old Bonchester Bridge woman who admitted subjecting a police constable to racist abuse.
Rebecca Fox, of Gatehouse Cottages, also pleaded guilty at Selkirk Sheriff Court to being in possession of an offensive weapon, namely a pool cue.
The offences happened in Galashiels High Street on March 22.
Sentence has been deferred until October 10.
AGGRESSIVE AT PARENTS’ HOME
A Newtown St Boswells man who admitted behaving in a threatening and abusive manner at his parents’ home has been ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work at Selkirk Sheriff Court.
Fifty-one-year-old Stephen Norman pleaded guilty to acting in an aggressive manner at the house in Oliver Crescent, Hawick, on May 29.
The court heard his parents were concerned at the amount he had been drinking when he was in charge of his children.
Prosecutor Graham Fraser said police breath-tested Norman.
The reading was 60 microgrammes – almost three times the drink-drive limit.
Defence lawyer Ed Hulme said his client was annoyed as his partner had not returned home from a night out and it was their daughter’s birthday.
Norman – formerly of Wellington Court, Hawick, and now living at Eildon Terrace in Newtown St Boswells – was given a community payback order as an alternative to a fine.
ST BOSWELLS MAN FACES TRIAL
A St Boswells man will stand trial at Selkirk Sheriff Court on a charge of embarking on a course of conduct which caused his former partner fear and alarm.
Alan Cairney, 31, of Springfield Terrace, pleaded not guilty to struggling violently with her to her injury, shouting, swearing, throwing stones at the window of her Newtown St Boswells property and making abusive comments.
The offence is said to have been committed between February 13 and March 30.
The trial date was set for November 22.
BAGPIPES HELD IN BUST-UP
A Galashiels woman refused to give her former friend her bagpipes back after a bitter bust-up, Selkirk Sheriff Court has been told.
Jodie Charles, 26, also threatened to damage the piper’s car in the aftermath of the fall-out.
Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser said: “The complainer plays for a pipe band and had left her bagpipes at the home of the accused.
“They then had a fall-out over some other subject and Charles said she was not going to give her the pipes back. She also threatened to damage her car on a number of occasions.”
The court was told the friendship between the pair was now at an end.
Charles pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by uttering threats to damage property at her home in Woodstock Avenue, Galashiels, on June 5.
Robert More, defending, said: “There was a dispute, but the bagpipes were recovered intact by the police without any difficulties. They were pretty close, but since the events of early June it does not appear that their friendship will be rekindled.”
Jobless Charles was fined £200.
CYCLIST’S DEATH TRIAL BEGINS
The Selkirk Sheriff Court trial of a motorist accused of causing the death of a cyclist by careless driving has begun.
Seventy-five-year-old Carl Lane sustained spinal injuries in a collision with a Volvo XC90 on the A72 at Eshiels, near Peebles, in October 2014. He died at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow six months later.
William Stewart, who is 54, of Mathieson Street, Innerleithen, denies causing death by careless driving in that he failed to see Mr Lane cycling on the roadway and collided with him.
Evidence got under way last Tuesday, but with more than 20 witnesses cited, the case before Sheriff Valerie Johnston has been continued until October 5 for more evidence to be led.
Mr Lane, from Peebles, was a retired RAF flight lieutenant and president of Peebles Cycling Club.
EX-POLICEMAN’S CASE DESERTED
A former police officer accused of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner in council offices has had the case against him deserted at Selkirk Sheriff Court.
Stuart Wilson, 57, of Market Place, Selkirk, had pleaded not guilty to repeatedly shouting, uttering offensive remarks and making threats of violence in the homeless department office of Scottish Borders Council in Paton Street, Galashiels, on March 29.
NOT GUILTY OF BENEFITS FRAUD
A Peebles woman accused of a benefits fraud involving more than £6,000 has had her not-guilty plea accepted at Selkirk Sheriff Court.
Norah Turner, 48, of Witchwood Crescent, had denied failing to notify the Department of Work and Pensions about a change in her financial circumstances and receiving £6,368.70 between May 2013 and May 2015, to which she was not entitled.
PEEBLES WOMAN IS CLEARED
A Peebles woman accused of obtaining more than £7,000 in housing benefit to which she was not entitled has walked free from Selkirk Sheriff Court.
Susan James, 57, of Witchwood Crescent, had denied failing to notify about a change in her circumstances with increased earnings from her employment and receiving £7,170.59.
Her not-guilty plea was accepted by Sheriff Valerie Johnston.