A nurse who knocked down and injured an OAP cyclist at a roundabout near Borders General Hospital has admitted a careless driving charge.
Ros Henderson, 50, said she never saw 65-year-old David Arnott and struck the bike, causing him to fall onto the roadway, breaking his wrist.
Selkirk Sheriff Court heard on Monday that as soon as the accident happened at the Tweedbank/Borders General Hospital roundabout on the outskirts of Galashiels, she put the injured cyclist and his bike into the back of her Ford Focus and drove to the nearby accident and emergency department.
Henderson, of Lauder Road, Stow, pleaded guilty to failing to maintain a proper lookout and colliding with the cyclist, causing him to fall from his bicycle and sustain an injury on July 19.
The court heard that an independent witness standing by the side of the road said he felt that the cyclist should have been seen.
Defence lawyer Mat Patrick said: “It is not overstating the fact to say how much of an effect this has had on her. She is a family nurse, travelling to clients’ homes, mainly young mothers. Since the offence she has undertaken an advanced drivers’ course.
“Her position is she simply did not see Mr Arnott. She immediately stopped and put him and the bike into the back of her vehicle and waited till he received treatment.”
But Mr Patrick said the behaviour of the injured cyclist at the hospital made her feel uncomfortable and described the response as “entirely inappropriate”. The lawyer added that the response was noted at the time by the police.
He continued: “The NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council) needs to be informed by her about this. But she provides a valuable service to the community.”
Sheriff Peter Paterson told Henderson she had dealt with the matter responsibly, adding: “It was a momentary oversight.”
As a result, he treated the matter as at the lower end of the careless driving scale and restricted the fine to £100, along with three penalty points on her licence.
MUST BEHAVE HERSELF
A Galashiels woman involved in a bust-up with her husband has been ordered to be of good behaviour for the next three months.
Fifty-two-year-old Barbara Greenhill pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening or aggressive manner at her Wood Street home on November 8.
Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser told Selkirk Sheriff Court that the husband lived in Chirnside, but had arranged to visit her that morning to go on a short break to Kilmarnock.
He said: “She phoned and said she was not ready, but he travelled anyway and arrived at 9.30am. She was intoxicated on wine, had not taken anti-depressants and was increasingly agitated.”
Mr Fraser added that Greenhill continued to drink red wine and started swearing at her husband. The argument continued till about mid-day and police were called.
The fiscal said when officers arrived the husband agreed to leave and go back to Chirnside, realising the trip to Kilmarnock was not going to happen. But he added Greenhill then ran over to a neighbour’s house and swore at her, accusing her of calling the police.
Sheriff Peter Paterson deferred sentence for three months for good behaviour.
In a separate case involving two disturbances at Addaction in High Street, Galashiels, on May 6, she was ordered to carry out a total of 200 hours of unpaid work.
WOMAN FLED INTO STREET
A Kelso man was involved in a bust-up with his partner after accusing her of cheating on him, and then ended up struggling with police, Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard.
Jay McAulay, 30, of Sydenham Court, pleaded guilty to charges of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner and struggling with police during the early hours of October 23.
The court was told the pair had been arguing upstairs in a house in Roxburgh Street, Kelso, about her alleged infidelity and the partner was heard to say: “Please don’t hurt me.”
Eventually the woman fled into the street with McAulay chasing her, and a taxi driver alerted police.
McAulay told officers he wanted to go back to the woman’s home to get a television and a fridge, and when they refused the request he started struggling with them, falling against a plate glass window.
Sheriff Kevin Drummond fined McAulay £315 for obstructing the police and deferred sentence for 12 months for good behaviour on the domestic charge after being told the couple are no longer in contact.
ON TRIAL FOR EMBEZZLEMENT
The trial of a Kelso woman accused of embezzling £19,000 while working as the administrator of a Selkirk playgroup will take place on January 31.
Fiona Hughes, 49, of Kaimflat Cottages, denies the offence which is said to have happened at the Argus Playgroup in Goslawdales between August 1, 2011, and November 1, 2014.
HEROIN POSSESSION
Sentence has been deferred until January 4 on an Earlston man who admitted being in possession of heroin.
Darren Crawford, 32, of Summerfield, pleaded guilty at Selkirk Sheriff Court to the offence which happened at Haughhead, Earlston, on August 23.
MOTORIST BAILED
An Earlston motorist appeared in private at Selkirk Sheriff Court accused of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Derek Jenkins, 56, made no plea or declaration and the case was continued for further examination. He was granted bail by Sheriff Peter Paterson.
The charge relates to an incident on the A72 near Innerleithen in August.
JAIL WARNING FOR TEENAGER
A teenager who struggled violently with police inside a sheriff courthouse has been warned he faces spending a significant period of his young life in prison if he continues to offend.
David Scougall, 18, of Gala Park Court, Galashiels, reacted violently to being arrested at Jedburgh Sheriff Court last month. He struggled with two officers, kicking and injuring them in the process, and also wiped his blood on one constable. Scougall also admitted a charge of threatening or abusive behaviour in the court building by shouting and swearing.
On a separate matter, Scougall pleaded guilty to shouting and swearing and struggling with ambulance personnel and police officers in Hawick’s Trinity Street on March 5, and also failing to appear in court.
Sheriff Kevin Drummond told Scougall that at the age of 18 he had already accumulated a number of previous convictions and just had his first taste of custody after being on remand.
He added: “If you carry on in the way you have been going in the last 12 months you are going to spend a significant part of your young life in jail.”
Scougall was ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work as an alternative to custody and fined £150 for the non-appearance in court.
In addition, he was given an antisocial behaviour order, making it an aggravated offence if he shouts and swears, causes a disturbance to others, behaves in an aggressive manner and challenges others to fight.
CAREERS ADVISER TO LOSE JOB
A row with his partner led to a 37-year-old careers adviser driving in Galashiels while more than double the legal alcohol limit, Selkirk Sheriff Court has been told.
John Grant pleaded guilty to driving with a breath/alcohol count of 48 microgrammes – the legal limit being 22 – in Gala Park on November 19.
Graham Fraser, prosecuting, said events started about 10pm after the pair had been to the bingo and they appeared to have an argument.
He explained: “He collected his belongings and she phoned the police to say he had driven off.”
Police got another call after a car was spotted driving over a traffic island in Scott Street and Grant was traced.
Stephanie Clinkscale, defending, said the loss of her client’s licence was proving costly as he would lose his job. Grant also drove his father, who suffers from blood pressure, to hospital appointments.
Grant, of Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, was banned from the road for 12 months and fined £200.
APPEARED IN PRIVATE
A Peebles man made a private court appearance charged with assaulting a man to his severe injury in the town.
Ross Glass, who is 26, made no plea or declaration during a brief hearing at Jedburgh Sheriff Court and the case was continued for further examination. He was bailed.
It follows an incident outside the County Hotel in September when a 49-year-old man suffered facial injuries.
A few days’ earlier, 24-year-old Thomas Colclough, from Derby, appeared in court on a similar charge in connection with the same incident.
Stalking allegation
A Hawick man appeared in private at Jedburgh Sheriff Court on a stalking charge.
Christopher Hartdegen, 35, is also accused of threatening or abusive behaviour.
He made no plea or declaration and the case was continued for further examination, with the accused granted bail.
INTERMEDIATE HEARING
A 46-year-old man will stand trial at Selkirk Sheriff Court on March 2 on three charges.
Dale Forrest, previously of Galashiels, but who gave a bail address in Macmerry, near Tranent, denies threatening or abusive behaviour, and head-butting the inside of a police van on the A7 on Saturday.
He also pleaded not guilty to damaging the van and assault at Borders General Hospital.
An intermediate hearing will take place on January 31.
FACING FOUR CHARGES
Gordon Finlay will stand trial on four motoring charges.
The 37-year-old, of Abbotseat, Kelso, is accused of driving at speed in excess of 30mph through roadworks on the A68 at Soutra Hill on November 6. He is also charged with failing to stop when required to do so by police, driving while unfit through drink or drugs, and failing to give a specimen of breath.
A trial date has been fixed for Selkirk Sheriff Court on January 31.
SENTENCE DEFERRED
A Peebles man who admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner in the town’s Kingsland Square in August will be sentenced next month.
Raymond Thomson, 21, of Violet Bank, also pleaded guilty to being in possession of an offensive weapon.
Sentence was deferred until January 30 at Selkirk Sheriff Court for a criminal justice social work report. Thomson was bailed.
DRUGS TRIAL SET FOR JANUARY 31
Roche Thomson, 29, will stand trial at Selkirk Sheriff Court on January 31 facing charges of producing cannabis and possession of the class B drug at his home in Halliburton Place, Galashiels, on July 21.
CURFEW FOR GALA PUB THUG
A Galashiels accused who carried out an unprovoked assault on a man with learning difficulties in a pub has been placed on a night-time curfew.
Simon Hadden, 38, of Hawthorn Road, admitted punching the man on the head and causing him to fall to the ground to his injury in the Bridge Inn, Galashiels, on April 22 last year.
Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser said the victim – who had significant learning difficulties with a mental age of eight or nine – had been playing pool.
Mr Fraser went on: “On this particular evening at about 7pm the accused was going past the pool table and the man started talking to him. For no apparent reason he punched the man, who is 24, to the face and knocked him to the ground.”
The fiscal said the victim did not sustain any injuries.
Hadden’s lawyer, Ross Dow, said: “He had been out drinking heavily and was at a low ebb”
Sheriff Peter Paterson said: “This was an unprovoked assault on a gentleman with learning disabilities.” He warned Hadden he was on the “cusp of custody”.
A restriction-of-liberty order was made, keeping Hadden in his home between 7pm and 7am for the next 10 months.
DRUNK MAN TOOK BABY TO PUB
A Selkirk man involved in a domestic bust-up took a baby to a pub, carrying it under his arm “like a rugby ball”.
Jordan Inglis, 23, pleaded guilty to conduct likely to cause a child unnecessary suffering on April 22.
He had earlier been involved in an incident when he seized a woman by the hair and neck.
Prosecutor Graham Fraser said the accused was drunk and “had the baby under his arm like a rugby ball”.
Witnesses felt this was “inappropriate” and Inglis became abusive towards them before leaving. The matter was reported to police.
Sentence was deferred until February 13 for a supplementary criminal justice social work report.
In a separate matter, Inglis, of Bannerfield, was fined £200 and had his licence endorsed with six penalty points for driving with no L plates while being a provisional licence holder and with no insurance at The Green in Selkirk on March 20.
HOSPITAL DISTURBANCE
A Galashiels woman who caused a disturbance in the casualty department at Borders General Hospital has been ordered to pay a total of £270.
Selkirk Sheriff Court was told on Monday that 49-year-old Sylvia Connelly, of Balmoral Road, was shouting and swearing, as well as being aggressive to staff and preventing them from going about their normal duties.
She had been taken to the hospital at 10.40am on Saturday, March 26, after being found unwell, but refused to stay in her cubicle. Connelly was finally arrested at 11.45am by police officers who she also swore at.
Her solicitor, Ed Hulme, said his client could not remember anything due to her alcohol consumption, but she accepted she had behaved entirely inappropriately.
Connelly admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner. But a not-guilty plea to being drunk and incapable in Balmoral Road on March 26 was accepted by the Crown.
Sheriff Peter Paterson said: “The only reason why you are not going to jail is that you have been of good behaviour over the past six months during a period of deferred sentence.”
Connelly was told to pay £200 in compensation and fined £70.
DANGEROUS DRIVER
A motorist who drove dangerously in Jedburgh will be sentenced next month at the town’s sheriff court.
Kurt Muir, 31, of Inch Park, Kelso, pleaded guilty to the offence which happened on December 5.
Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser said the police discovered Muir was driving without insurance and went to pull him over at around 2.50pm. But he ignored them and reached speeds of 50mph in various streets in Jedburgh, ignoring a Give Way sign and entering the opposite carriageway.
Sheriff Peter Paterson deferred sentence for background reports, including a restriction-of-liberty order, until January 23.
ACCUSED OF FLASHING
A 37-year-old man has been accused of being involved in flashing incidents in Selkirk.
William Brown is charged with exposing his genitals in a sexual manner by opening his dressing gown to a woman and a seven-year-old girl in Station Road on October 15. He is also said to have exposed his genitals in a sexual manner to two 16-year-old girls by lying on the ground and lifting his legs in the grounds of Philiphaugh Primary School on March 25.
Brown, of Laidlaw Court, Galashiels, pleaded not guilty to three charges at Selkirk Sheriff Court.
A trial date was fixed for February 28, with an intermediate hearing on January 30.
He was released on bail with the conditions that he does not enter any part of Philiphaugh Primary School and that he has no contact with a child under 16 years of age unless supervised by an adult.
SUPERVISION ORDER
An Ancrum teenager who filmed a female friend while she was naked in her bathroom shower has been placed on supervision for a year.
Robert Horne, 18, of Causewayend, recorded the girl on his mobile phone through cracks in the bathroom door. The video showed her naked from the neck down, but did not reveal her face.
But Horne left his phone lying in his vehicle and a friend scrolled through it and the victim was made aware about the naked images. There were also pictures of her sleeping in her bra and of her bottom and underwear as she got out of Horne’s car.
Horne admitted the offence which happened at a house near Lauder between September 1 last year and June 16.
He was given a 12-month community payback order with supervision. His name was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for a year.
CHRISTMAS BEHIND BARS
A Hawick man accused of contacting his ex-partner despite a court order preventing him from doing so has been locked up for the festive period.
Robert Searle, 23, denied sending text messages to the woman over the course of the weekend.
Selkirk Sheriff Court was told Searle had only been released on bail the previous week on special conditions not to contact her.
Trial was set for January 19, with an intermediate hearing on January 4.
Sheriff Peter Paterson refused a motion for bail and Searle was remanded in custody.