Latest news with #AberdeenSheriffCourt
Press and Journal
19-07-2025
- Press and Journal
Paranoid Cove man turned from boyfriend to relentless stalker
A Cove man who turned from boyfriend to stalker and bombarded his partner and her family with scores of paranoid messages and calls has narrowly avoided going to prison. Martin Gray, 43, was described as displaying a concerning pattern of behaviour towards the woman, whom he had briefly dated. Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told Gray – who has previous convictions relating to women – had only been seeing his victim for less than a fortnight when his jealous and paranoid behaviour began to emerge. Fiscal depute Sophia Ramzan told the court early in the relationship, on July 13 2023, Gray was repeatedly calling the woman's phone at 7.15am from outside her flat. When he wasn't able to get her, he called the woman's sister in the hope she would be able to wake her up. The woman woke up to numerous missed calls and was given a row by Gray for having her phone on silent and her lack of contact. The court heard also that when the woman went on a solo spa weekend to Dunkeld, Gray demanded that she make a panoramic video to prove to him she was there alone. She told him he was 'paranoid' and hung up the phone. Similarly, when she went on a trip to Kilmarnock to see friends a week later, Gray began calling her incessantly. When she complained about his behaviour, Gray told her she should be 'putting him first and that he wasn't going to be put second'. Following this, the woman received a series of messages from Gray, telling her to 'always' answer his phone calls and stop prioritising her friends over him. That evening Gray called the woman numerous times and sent her numerous texts before repeatedly calling her friends. He also told her to 'get her f****** a**e up the road'. 'The complainer was described as being distraught by the situation,' Ms Ramzan said, adding that the woman 'struggled to sleep and was distressed throughout the night.' She received a series of voice messages and missed calls from Gray throughout the night. On July 21, Gray's attentions turned to the woman's family members. They began receiving long and 'rambling' voice messages from Gray about her behaviour and who she was 'hanging around with'. The following day, the woman informed Gray that she no longer wanted to be in a relationship with him. However, he was not satisfied with this, Ms Ramzan said, telling the woman he would 'see her soon', as well as sending her messages noting his displeasure at her decision. Gray then sent five Facebook messages to a male family member, stating that the woman had 'blocked him' and 'what the hell is going on?' He continued to bombard the woman through various means, including email, and message her friends, calling her a 'lying s***'. The messages and voice notes continued, with Gray demanding to meet face-to-face and 'then he would go'. The police were contacted and Gray was arrested. In the dock Gray, of Langdykes Drive, Cove, admitted one charge of engaging in a course of conduct that caused fear and alarm to his victim. Defence solicitor Emily Bruce told the court that her client had believed the relationship to be a 'happy relationship' but that that had quickly changed. 'Mr Gray knows that what happened then went horribly over the score,' the solicitor said, adding that her client does have 'mental health difficulties'. 'Some of this exhibits as obsessive-compulsive behaviour and he struggles to manage his emotions,' Ms Bruce continued. 'Nevertheless, Mr Gray does take full responsibility for his actions.' Sheriff Johnston described Gray's offences as 'extremely concerning', especially given the context of his other domestic offending that involved another woman. 'This is a serious charge of stalking,' she said. 'You have made a huge number of contacts with the complainer and people close to her. 'I could easily be imposing a custodial sentence today and I don't think you really understand that.' As an alternative to a prison sentence, Sheriff Johnston sentenced Gray to a community payback order with supervision for two years and ordered him to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work. Due to the 'pattern of behaviour that is emerging', the sheriff also made Gray subject to a domestic abuse programme and put a non-harassment order in place, meaning he cannot approach his victim for five years.
BBC News
26-06-2025
- BBC News
Unpaid work for driver after police pursuit crash in Aberdeen
A man who drove dangerously through Aberdeen streets while being pursued by police before crashing has been ordered to carry out unpaid Johnstone, 21, then ran off after crashing in Great Western Road in January this year but was caught by drove at speeds in excess of 70mph in 30mph zones, overtook other vehicles, and drove the wrong way round a admitted dangerous driving at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, where Sheriff Ian Duguid sentenced him to 120 hours of unpaid work, 12 months of supervision, and also disqualified him from driving for 15 months. The incident happened on the afternoon of 28 vehicle was seen on Springhill Road and accelerated away. A pursuit began, also including on Anderson road users were taking evasive action and the court heard that at one stage the pursuit was stood down for safety resumed, ending when Johnstone crashed into a stone will have to take an extended test after his disqualification ends.
Daily Mirror
17-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mirror
'Terrifying' North Sea rig incident saw workers lowered into flooded lift shaft
Ithaca Energy (UK) Limited pleaded guilty to safety failings at a hearing at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on June 12, and were issued with a £300,000 fine, the HSE said An oil and gas operator has been fined £300,000 following a"terrifying incident" on a North Sea rig that saw three workers lowered into a flooded lift shaft. The episode happened on the FPF-1 offshore platform, owned by Ithaca Energy (UK) Limited, during a night shift on December 10, 2020. The men had been descending in a lift inside one of the platform's legs to carry out routine inspection work at the base of one of the sub-sea columns when they experienced a "rush of air". Before the lift reached the bottom of the shaft it started to fill with water, which was up to the men's knees by the time they were able to stop the lift by pressing the emergency button, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said. They returned to the main deck safely and none of the men sustained any injuries. An HSE investigation found that hardware failures and incorrect operating procedures had caused the bottom of the lift shaft to flood while the inspection site was being cleared of standing water. The HSE also found that a lack of water alarms at the bottom of the lift shaft also meant the control room was unaware that water was flooding into the shaft. The investigation found that water marks on the lift door showed the water had reached a level of just under 1.5m before the lift was stopped. Meanwhile, Ithaca's own investigation found the water level could have reached more than three metres – which would have made it difficult for the men to have escaped through the top hatch of the lift if the workers had used the lift later, or not been able to stop it as quickly as they did. Ithaca pleaded guilty to safety failings at a hearing at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on June 12, and were issued with a £300,000 fine, the HSE said. HSE inspector Ian Chilley said: "This was a terrifying incident for the workers involved, we are just thankful that no physical harm came to them. "This fine should send a message and reminder to those operating offshore facilities for them to be extra vigilant. It was only a matter of good fortune that this incident didn't result in serious injury, or worse." The HSE added that when passing sentence, the sheriff said the case marked "another reminder of the need for rigorous adherence to health and safety in the oil and gas industry." The HSE also issued an improvement notice in the immediate aftermath of the incident, and work in confined spaces was halted until February 2021 while a full review of the incident was carried out.
Press and Journal
13-06-2025
- Press and Journal
Demolition firm fined for safety failures after worker badly hurt
A demolition firm has been fined after its worker suffered serious injury – the second such time it has happened. Sylwester Zdunczyk was working for Cove-based Lawrie Demolition, removing metal sheets from a warehouse roof, when he fell 18ft and landed on a concrete floor. The 44-year-old was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and suffered broken ribs and a broken pelvis. It took him six months to regain fitness, although he is permanently impaired. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found his employer broke safety rules. Lawrie Demolition has now admitted an offence at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and has been sentenced. But it is not the first time the firm has breached safety rules. In 2009, Valentin Taljanov was working for the company at Aberdeen Harbour when he was seriously injured by falling cast iron guttering. The worker broke his right arm, seven ribs, and a vertebra. He also punctured a lung and cut his head. On that occasion, Lawrie Demolition was fined £40,000 after admitting breaching a safety regulation. During the latest hearing, which took place earlier this week, Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard how Lawrie Demolition was contracted to knock down two industrial units at Baker Hughes' former Woodside Road base in Bridge of Don in 2023. Demolishing the north building was easy, the court heard, as it had a simple, modern design. But things were trickier with the south building, as there was asbestos in the roof. It meant a five-man team had to unbolt metal sheets from the roof, move them a short distance and then lower them through a hole in the skylight. Before work began, Lawrie Demolition was supposed to put a robust safety plan in place to ensure workers did not fall. Their idea was to put up crowd barriers around the skylight, secured with plastic ties – but the barriers were not properly fixed to the roof structure. On May 25 2023, the team had removed four of the metal sheets without issue. But the court heard there was 'a heated discussion' between the workers about the method of removing the sheets. They then changed the method, which led to Mr Zdunczyk walking backwards during removal. The court heard how, as he moved the fifth metal sheet, Mr Zdunczyk lost his balance and collided with one of the crowd barriers, which then moved out of place. This created a gap – and Mr Zdunczyk plunged 18ft through it down to the floor, suffering severe injury and permanent impairment. Depute fiscal David Glancy told the court: 'Mr Zdunczyk's colleagues gave him first aid and alerted the emergency services. 'He was taken by ambulance to ARI with fractured ribs and a fractured pelvis. 'Mr Zdunczyk was unable to work for six months. 'Before this incident, he loved to play football, run and swim and can no longer pursue any of those activities. 'He has returned to work, but can no longer work from height.' In the wake of the incident, Lawrie Demolition paused all work and brought in a subcontractor to finish the job using enhanced safety techniques. The HSE investigation questioned why Lawrie Demolition had chosen not to fix the crash barriers to the roof structure or install safety netting. 'The failure to provide step-by-step guidance was significant. There was a failure to ensure the work was properly planned and supervised,' said Mr Glancy. Lawrie Demolition pleaded guilty to one offence of failing to plan and supervise work to ensure safety at height Defence solicitor Mark Donaldson told the court Lawrie Demolition was part of an industry association that required it to adhere to safety audits each year. He added: 'This was a very unusual situation. 'The company was aware that the work was physically demanding and regularly rotated staff. 'On this site was an extremely experienced team with over a decade of experience each. 'Consideration was given to the use of safety harnesses, but a decision was taken not to use them in case they became entangled. 'The crowd barriers should have been directly secured to the roof.' Mr Donaldson added that Lawrie Demolition had boosted working-at-height training for staff since the incident and had learned lessons from it. Because the accused in this case is a company, the only punishment available is a fine. First, sheriffs must consider that company's annual turnover to determine what the size of the company is. The bigger the company, the higher the fine. Lawrie Demolition's turnover of £1.7m a year means it is classed as a 'micro' company. Second, sheriffs check what the law says is a fair amount to fine the company for a particular offence. This gives them a 'starting point' figure. The sheriff can then add or subtract amounts from it if there are any aggravating or mitigating features of the offence. In this case, the sheriff decided that the fact that Lawrie Demolition had breached safety rules previously was an aggravating factor. The firm can then get a discount for pleading guilty and sparing a trial. In this case, Sheriff Ian Wallace decided on a fine of £37,500. And then a 7.5% victim surcharge – in this case £2,812. That makes a total of £40,312. The money is retained for use within the overall Scottish administration. Lawrie Demolition did not respond to requests for comment.
BBC News
11-06-2025
- BBC News
Men charged after hundreds of cannabis plants found in Aberdeen
Three men have been charged after hundreds of cannabis plants were recovered in went to a property on the city's Duthie Terrace on Tuesday, and about 450 cannabis plants were in forensic suits were still at the scene on Scotland said men aged 24, 25 and 27 were expected to appear at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
