In an effort to reduce the pressure on local authorities during coronavirus the unpaid work element of most community payback orders will be reduced by 35% through new regulations. As court business is heading towards near normality (compared with pre-covid) and the capacity of local authorities to deliver unpaid work [...]

Robert Ferrier, 21 years old, had been released from prison days before committing a rape of a 14 year old girl on a platform at Bogston Railway station in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde. Mr Ferrier had been serving a sentence for possession of a knife while on bail prior to his [...]

Lesley Dykes, owner of Crusoe Hotel in Lower Largo and Dunnikier House Hotel in Kirkcaldy, has been jailed for two years following a £380,000 VAT fraud. It was revealed that between August 2011 and July 2014 she had submitted false tax returns for the hotels and failed to submit any [...]

BBC Radio 4’s File on 4 revealed that there were over 10,400 reports of females committing child sexual abuse between 2019 and 2019 which equates to around 40 per week. A criminology researcher at Durham University, Dr Andrea Darling, has stated that the figures represent the “tip of the iceberg” [...]

Following an incident at HMP Glenochil, Dean Ramsay was taken to hospital on Saturday 9th January 2021. Mr Ramsay died two days later. Two men aged 50 and 31 have since been arrested and charged in connection with the incident  and are set to appear at Alloa Sheriff Court.

Gabrielle Friel of Edinburgh was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment at Edinburgh High Court following his possession of weapons for terrorist purposes. Mr Friel has collected a collection of weapons including a crossbow, 15 crossbow bolts, a machete and a ballistic vest. Mr Friel had conducted online research into the [...]

Surveys conducted by housing charity Shelter and ComRes show that as many as 30,000 women were propositioned with “sex for rent” offers across the UK since the beginning of lockdown in March 2020. The website Craigslist was singled out as the most notorious source with advertisements offering propositions including “very [...]

Ian Brash, an architect from East Lothian, admitted to embezzling £358,832 from the Dr Robert Malcolm Trust between August 2010 and September 2014. Mr Brash had used the money for his personal gain including purchasing shares, making mortgage and credit card payments and for deposits on cars and buy to [...]

In October 2019 Anthony O’Hare was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to supplying drugs, directing others to commit crimes and money laundering. It was estimated that he benefited by the sum of £650,000 from this operation. A confiscation order was made in December 2020 at Edinburgh High [...]

Mr Kevin Sinclair, the accountant to Mr David Paterson, had used his company, GD Accounting, to submit fraudulent VAT repayment claims for the company owned by Mr Paterson, Scone. Both accused had created false invoices as part of their fraud. Both men pled guilty at Dundee Sheriff Court on the [...]