A foul-mouthed outburst in the dock at Jedburgh Sheriff Court resulted in a Hawick man being jailed for 60 days.
Gary Crossett appeared from custody on Monday to face several motoring charges, but the 25-year-old lost his temper after being told his various pleas to certain allegations were not going to be accepted by the crown, so a trial date was set.
Crossett made a rude finger gesture towards procurator fiscal Graham Fraser, followed by a flurry of offensive and abusive phrases, including ‘get it up you’, all overheard by sheriff Peter Paterson.
The sheriff immediately ruled that Crossett, of Hillend Drive, was in contempt of court, and after discussion with his client, defence lawyer Ed Hulme said Crossett accepted that he had committed that offence.
Mr Hulme explained: “It should not have been said. It was not appropriate to say it in court, however he feels.
“He has mental health difficulties ongoing, and he was heavily intoxicated when he was arrested on Friday, and the after-effects may still be apparent.”
In addition to being jailed, Crossett was remanded in custody pending trial on a handful of motoring allegations.
He is accused of stealing a set of car keys from his home on Friday and taking away a car without the consent of its owner. Crossett is also alleged to have driven while disqualified and uninsured in Hillend Drive, Hawick, and on various roads en route to Selkirk.
A trial date was set for Thursday, November 30, at Jedburgh Sheriff Court, with an intermediate hearing on Monday, November 13.
SEX OFFENDER ON SUPERVISION
A 35-year-old man found with scores of disturbing child porn images on his computer has been given a three-year supervision order.
Andrew Devine has also had his name placed on the sex offenders’ register and is not allowed any contact with children under 18 or access to the internet without the permission of a supervising officer.
Jedburgh Sheriff Court was told that, acting on information, police raided a house in Gattonside in September last year and found Devine had sorted images into folders and categorised them.
His behaviour was described as obsessive, with many of the images being in the most serious category A, featuring children aged between five and 14 having penetrative sex with adults or other youngsters.
Devine, now living in Edzell in Angus, pleaded guilty to possessing indecent photographs of children at the Gattonside property between April 2013 and September 2016.
He also admitted a second charge of taking, or permitting to be taken, indecent photos of children.
Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser said police arrived with a search warrant at 8am on September 19 last year saying someone in the property was suspected of being involved in uploading or downloading child pornographic material.
He said: “There is considerable evidence of sorting and categorising them.
“It was a fairly organised accessing of material.
“It was thought through and, I would say, rather obsessive.”
He added: “It was not an enormous amount of images but certainly more than a few.
The court was told Devine had lived in Aberdeen until he was 22 but then moved with his family to Crete.
On their return to Scotland, they had stayed at a property in Gattonside, but he has since moved back north.
Sheriff Peter Paterson told Devine that because some of the images were at the serious level, it did call into question what the appropriate disposal would be in the case, with a custodial term having been under consideration.
However, after considering all the factors, he was able to impose a community-based sentence instead, he said.
PAIR ON BOOZE THEFT CHARGES
A Hawick couple have been accused of alcohol thefts from a supermarket in the town.
Tracey Groat, 46, and Shaun Trott, 49, both of Beattie Court, are charged with stealing four bottles of vodka from Sainsbury’s on August 17 and August 22. They are also said to have stolen four bottles of brandy and two bottles of vodka later that month.
The case was continued without plea at Jedburgh Sheriff Court until November 13.
MAN TOLD TO PAY COMPENSATION
A Berwickshire man has been ordered to pay £400 compensation to a woman after admitting engaging in a course of conduct causing her fear and alarm.
Michael Oliver, 41, previously pleaded guilty to approaching the woman at Gordon Bowling Club on June 12 last year and laying his head on her chest, seizing her by the buttocks, following her into the toilets and attempting to enter the cubicle she had gone into.
Oliver, who lives near Gordon, also admitted calling at the woman’s address and repeatedly attempting to gain entry despite being uninvited and refusing to leave when asked to do so.
After hearing that Oliver had been of good behaviour for the past year while on deferred sentence, he was admonished by sheriff Derrick McIntyre and told to pay his victim £400 in compensation.
MEN ACCUSED OF SPATE OF THEFTS
Three Edinburgh men have been charged with thefts from vehicles in the Borders.
They face a total of 16 charges relating to thefts from vehicles in Duns, Jedburgh and St Boswells in December.
Alan Halcrow, 39, of Firhill Drive, and John Garden, 30, of Fernieside Crescent, both pleaded not guilty.
A third accused, Jamie Shaw, 25, of Fernieside Avenue, failed to show up at Jedburgh Sheriff Court, and a warrant was granted for his arrest.
MAN REMANDED IN CUSTODY
A man has been remanded in custody after failing to comply with background reports being prepared.
Ricky Lee, 38, had previously admitted wasting police time by falsely claiming he was severely injured by unknown males.
That offence happened at a house in Beaconsfield Terrace, Hawick, on January 24.
Lee, now ofBoonraw Road, Hawick, admitted at Jedburgh Sheriff Court to making the false representation that he had been stabbed by others to a detective constable.
Sentence was previously deferred for background reports, but after hearing that they were not available, sheriff Derrick McIntyre told Lee he had “tested the patience of the court” and remanded him in custody until next month.
DRIVER BLAMES MEMORY LOSS
A banned motorist claimed that, because he suffers from short-term memory loss, he could not recall driving when he was not supposed to.
Daniel Purvis, 21, had previously denied driving while disqualified and with no insurance in Shedden Park Road, Kelso, on September 10, but at Jedburgh Sheriff Court he changed his plea to guilty.
Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser said Purvis was seen driving at 8.30am by someone who suspected he was disqualified, and it was later confirmed that he was banned from October 2016 to February 2018.
His girlfriend said Purvis had been driving the car and now he accepted it. Mr Fraser added: “He says he suffers from short-term memory loss and could not remember he was driving. Hopefully, he will remember he is disqualified.”
Purvis, of Horsemarket, Kelso, had sentence deferred until November 28 for background reports.
BOTTLE-ATTACK CLAIM DENIED
A Galashiels man has been accused of severely injuring another man by hitting him on the head with a bottle.
Jordan Wood, 28, of Tweed Terrace, appeared on indictment at Jedburgh Sheriff Court and denied the offence.
He pleaded not guilty to assaulting Lochlan Webb to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement in Roxburgh Street, Galashiels, on October 23 last year.
The intermediate trial hearing was continued until November 28.
TEENAGER WILL FACE JURY TRIAL
A teenager will stand trial by jury on a charge of breaking into a house in Selkirk and stealing various items.
The 17-year-old, from Edinburgh, who cannot be named because of his age, denies the offence, alleged to have been committed in Russell Place on January 3.
He also denies allowing himself to be driven in a car taken without the consent of its owner.
The case was continued until November 30.
HEROIN OFFENDER
A Galashiels man has appeared from custody at Selkirk Sheriff Court and admitted being in possession of heroin.
Daniel Thwaites was spotted by police officers in the Wilderhaugh area of Galashiels last Wednesday and appeared to be under the influence of drink or drugs.
The 27-year-old, of High Tweed Mill, King Street, was searched, and a bag of brown powder was recovered.
It was later found to contained a quantity of the class A drug with a value of around £50.
Defending, Ed Hulme said the drug was for his client’s own personal use.
Thwaites had sentence deferred for four months for good behaviour.
WOMAN FACES FRAUD TRIAL
A Greenlaw woman has denied a £10,000 benefits fraud.
Lorraine Baxter, 47, of Blackadder Crescent, pleaded not guilty to receiving £5,044 in employment support allowance and £4,853 in housing beenfits she was not entitled to.
It is alleged she stated that she had separated from her husband, but it is claimed they were living together as a married couple between September 2015 and January this year.
A trial date has been fixed for January 25 at Jedburgh Sheriff Court, with an intermediate hearing on December 11.
PEEBLES STALKER FINED £500
A man has been fined £500 at Selkirk Sheriff Court after admitting stalking his ex-partner after the break-up of their two-year relationship.
Steven Wilson, 44, pleaded guilty to engaging in a course of conduct likely to cause the woman fear and alarm by repeatedly sending her messages by text, WhatsApp and social media between April 30 and June 25, despite being told not to contact her.
Wilson, of Edinburgh Road, Peebles, also admitted a second complaint of breaching his bail conditions by repeatedly texting her and sending her flowers between August 23 and September 26, defying a court order not to contact her.
Ross Dow, defending, accepted his client had crossed the line with the number of calls he made to her in spite of being warned not to.
INDECENT CHILD IMAGES FOUND
A 59-year-old man has admitted being in possession of more than 1,600 indecent images of children at his Cardrona home.
William Bruce pleaded guilty to committing that offence at Mains Farm Steading between March 2013 and January 2017.
Jedburgh Sheriff Court was told a total of 1,608 images and 216 movies were recovered from three devices, mostly falling into the category C section deemed to be the least serious.
When interviewed by police, Bruce, now living in Dunfermline in Fife, refused to comment.
Sentence was deferred until December 11, and his name was placed on the sex offenders’ register.
SOLDIER LASHED OUT AT WOMAN
A soldier has been found guilty of assaulting a woman during a disturbance in Galashiels town centre.
Paul Edwards, 28, of Tweed Road, Galashiels, had denied punching the woman in the town’s Tesco car park on December 28, but witnesses described how he lashed out at her during a confrontation between two groups of people.
Edwards was fined £300 at Selkirk Sheriff Court.
There was found to be no case to answer on charges alleging assaults on two men during the same incident.
Co-accused Alistair Munro, 27, of Newton Mearns in Glasgow, was also found not guilty of assaulting the two men after sheriff Peter Paterson ruled there was no case to answer.
MAN DIDN’T TELL ABOUT NEEDLE
A man has been jailed for a total of 250 days after admitting putting police officers in danger by failing to tell them he was in possession of a hypodermic needle as they searched him.
Stephen Palmer pleaded guilty at Jedburgh Sheriff Court to a charge of culpable and reckless conduct in Earl Street, Hawick, on May 26.
The 39-year-old, of Wellfield Road, Hawick, was also in possession of an offensive weapon, namely a metal pole, at the same time and location.
He admitted two further counts of breaching his bail conditions.
Consecutive jail terms of 120 days, 100 days and 30 days were imposed.
MAN, 54, ADMITS LEWD PRACTICES
A man has been placed on the sex offenders’ registerafter he admitted lewd and libidinous practices towards a teenage girl at a house in Peebles.
Allan Nelson, 54, now living in Galashiels, also pleaded guilty to inducing the girl to take part in sexual activity by giving her a camera so she could take indecent images of herself.
He admitted a third charge of having indecent images of the girl on his computer.
Sentence was deferred at Jedburgh Sheriff Court for background reports until December 11.
GLENDOUGLAS MAN FACES TRIAL
A 50-year-old man has been accused of touching a woman on her body under her clothing while she was sleeping and photographing her almost 20 years ago.
David Blair, of Jedwater Cottage, Glendouglas, is also charged with lewd and libidinous practices towards two youngsters at a house in Jedburgh between January 2001 and January 2002. He pleaded not guilty to both charges.
A trial date has been set for Jedburgh Sheriff Court on January 25, with an intermediate hearing on December 11.
25-YEAR-OLD ADMONISHED
A 25-year-old man convicted of assaulting a pensioner has been admonished after being of good behaviour during a three-month period of deferred sentence.
Jamie Pratley, 25, of Oakfield Court, Kelso, pleaded guilty to pushing the 77-year-old man and causing him to fall to the ground to his injury.
That offence was committed in Angraflat Road, Kelso, on September 29 last year.
NIGHT-TIME CURFEW ORDER
A man has been ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work after admitting three offences at Jedburgh Sheriff Court.
Connor Jackson, 20, was also ordered to stay in his Queens Drive home in Hawick between 7pm and 7am for the next six months and ordered to pay £475 for the damage he caused.
That follows a disturbance in the Duke Street area of Hawick on July 12.
He admitted threatening or abusive behaviour involving the police and also wilful damage.
SENTENCE DEFERRED
A Hawick man will be sentenced later this month for causing a disturbance.
Christopher Rodgers, 21, of Eildon Road, pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner on October 3.
He shouted and swore, struggled and fought with others and threw items around a flat in Allars Cresent.
Sentence was deferred until November 13 when he has other matters calling.
29-YEAR-OLD’S CASE CONTINUED
Scott Winterburn, 29, of Silverbuthall Road, Hawick, has been accused of stealing razor blades from the town’s Sainsbury’s store on August 25.
He is also charged with driving away a car without the consent of its owner in Silverbuthall Road on September 17 and driving with no L-plates while a provisional licence holder and no insurance.
The case was continued without plea at Jedburgh Sheriff Court until November 13.
BENEFIT FRAUD TRIAL DATES SET
New dates have been fixed for the trial of a woman accused of a £10,000 benefit fraud.
Tara Morris, 23, of Priors Court, Jedburgh, is alleged to have received £6,641 of income support she was not entitled to between December 2014 and September 2016.
She also denies receiving £3,409 in housing benefit she was not entitled to by failing to specify that her partner was living in the household.
A Jedburgh Sheriff Court, trial has been scheduled for January 23, with an intermediate hearing on December 11.
WOMAN ACCUSED OF VEHICLE FIRE
A Galashiels woman appeared in private at Jedburgh Sheriff Court accused of setting a vehicle on fire last Saturday.
Linsay Kerr, 35, of Queen Elizabeth Square, faces charges of malicious damage, wilful fire-raising and threatening or abusive behaviour.
Those offences are alleged to have been committed in the Langlee Road area of Galashiels. She made no plea, and the case was continued for further examination. Kerr was bailed with special conditions.