Latest Offenders Angus

Description

Evicted from Sunnyside as of 1st of December.

An Angus delivery driver caught red-handed trying to delete his massive collection of bestiality and child abuse videos has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register for three years.

James Brown was found hastily trying to erase his collection of nearly 20 hours of footage when police officers arrived to raid his home.

Brown had a huge haul of horse and dog bestiality videos and sickening child material featuring youngsters aged from four-years-old.

He was ordered to carry out 225 hours unpaid work in the community and attend a sex offender rehabilitation programme as a direct alternative to custody.

At Dundee Sheriff Court, Sheriff Gregor Murray also imposed strict conduct conditions banning Brown from having unsupervised contact with children and limiting his internet use.

Police raid

The court was told that when detectives carried out a raid on his home, he told them: “You will find stuff on the computer.

“I have been busy deleting it.”

The court was told Brown had stored vile material for more than a decade.

Brown, 31, of Sunnyside, Kirriemuir, admitted downloading indecent images of children at his home between June 25 2011 and January 21 2018.

He also admitted having a stash of extreme material at addresses in Kirriemuir and Livingston between June 23 2011 and January 29 2022.

Fiscal depute Lora Apostalova said he was raided at 8.20am on January 29 and told police: “You will find stuff on my computer. I’ve been busy deleting it.”

Mrs Apostalova said images and videos were found on a number of devices with the earliest downloads dating back more than ten years.

She said the child-related material showed predominantly male youngsters aged between four and 14 being abused.

She added the total run-time of the bestiality videos amounted to 19 hours and 18 minutes.

Description

A married security guard who discussed raping babies with other paedophiles he was sharing extreme child and animal porn videos with has been jailed for two years.

Vile Carl Harvey, 39, was sent to prison after a sheriff told him he played a part in abuse which left children physically and psychologically damaged.

Harvey told another online paedophile that he wanted to rape a child and make her pregnant so he could go on and rape his own baby. He was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for ten years.

Sheriff Gregor Murray said: “You were taking and distributing indecent photographs over a 23-month period. This was a serious offence which was planned.”

Police raided home after tip-off

The sheriff told Harvey: “You are part of the process of child sexual abuse. Each photograph and video represents serious abuse of a child. Those who access this material bear responsibility for abuse by creating demand for it.

“There is not alternative to a custodial sentence.”

Fiscal depute Lora Apostolova told Dundee Sheriff Court: “At the time he was employed as a security guard and was living with his wife and her older daughter.

“In March 2021, information was received by Police Scotland that indecent images of children may be held at his address. A search warrant was sought.

“At 8.15 am officers attended to execute the warrant. The accused answered the door and a systematic search was carried out of the property.

“A phone and tablet were recovered from a bedroom cabinet. They were found to contain indecent images of children.” Harvey told police: “I admit it.”

Images of boys as young as one

Mrs Apostolova told the court that the majority of the material was at the most extreme end of the scale, showing boys as young as one being raped.

“There were extreme videos showing men and women involved in sexual acts with dogs and horses. The video run time was one hour and 15 minutes.

“The accused had distributed 18 files,” she said, adding that he had been messaging other child porn users gathered in a “super-secret group” online.

In one, Harvey said: “I want to f*** a little girl too, put my baby in her belly, and then I can f*** them too.” He also commented graphically on the physical appearance of naked children.

Harvey, Kinnaird Place, Brechin, admitted distributing indecent images of children on various occasions between 21 November 2018 and 16 January 2021. He also admitted downloading indecent images between 21 November 2018 and 17 March 2021.

Description

A serial sex offender has been convicted of terrorising two women who worked in an Angus bookmakers for more than a fortnight.

Gavin Ross stared into the Coral bookies in Forfar and played with his nipples, frightening staff so much one member was relocated to work at another store.

After being remanded, Ross saluted Sheriff William Wood and said: I couldnt give a f*** man.

Ross, who was once jailed for dancing at the side of the A90 with his trousers around his ankles, was found guilty of acting in a threatening or abusive manner between September 6 and 24 last year.

Bizarre acts caught on camera

Jurors unanimously agreed the Perth Prison inmate Ross formerly of Inveraldie, Tealing, Angus repeatedly visited at the Castle Street shop, loitered outside and refused to leave despite being asked to do so on numerous occasions.

They also agreed that while outside the shop, Ross stared into the premises, waved and made inappropriate gestures to the employees and played with his nipples.

He rubbed and seized his nipples above his clothing and rubbed his chest.

However, the majority of jurors found an alternative charge of stalking to be not proven and rejected allegations of other actions he was accused of carrying out while standing outside the shop.

The jury was shown CCTV of the street outside the branch.

DC Stephen Jenkins of Police Scotland explained he had trawled through all the footage and spotted Ross, usually on his bike, on six or seven days, sometimes outside the bookies several times a day.

One female employee who was stared down by the accused said she felt uncomfortable and uneasy and said I began to feel on edge, and it was a very stressful time.

A second complainer told the court said she was disgusted and found his behaviour intimidating.

She said she did not want to work alone in the shop.

Ross made a habit of attending when the women were working alone and one woman moved to another branch to escape him.

Neither women knew Ross and both had first spotted the 41-year-old picking up cigarette butts outside the store and became so alarmed by his behaviour, they raised the issue with their manager.

Past crimes

After the jury returned its verdict, Perth Sheriff Court was told Ross is already on the Sex Offenders Register and will remain there until at least 2028.

However, it was not established this week whether or not his actions had a significant sexual element, the threshold at which he would be subject to notification requirements.

The sheriff ordered a social work report to be completed ahead of sentencing on August 4.

Earlier this year, Ross was jailed again after he exposed himself to a female prison warden at HMP Perth.

In August 2016, Ross was ordered to carry out unpaid work after admitting throwing a bottle and brick at traffic on the A90 before walking into the path of oncoming vehicles.

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A Forfar child sex offender was snared by a paedophile-hunter who pretended to be a 13-year-old girl.

Antony O’Hare, 53, had indecent images of children on his Samsung phone, as well as engaging in sexual conversations with what he believed – and had been told – was a young teenage girl.

Warehouse worker O’Hare thought he was speaking with a girl called Zoe, who was in fact a man named Barry Cootes.

Over a five month period O’Hare sent explicit pictures of himself performing sexual acts, as well as telling her he liked her “small boobs”.

He would send messages via the Kik app and other social media messengers, telling “Zoe” the depraved things he wished to do with her.

The decoy continually identified as being 13 years old and when they asked O’Hare, of Strathmore Avenue, Forfar, if sexual intercourse would hurt he responded “only the first time”.

‘Age’ of witness did not stop offending

Depute fiscal Michael Sweeney told Dundee Sheriff Court: “This is a paedophile-hunter case – the witness is a decoy who posed as a 13-year-old girl.

“The accused communicated through various apps.

“When age was mentioned to the accused he continued to communicate and became increasingly sexualised.

“The decoy, witness Cootes, pretended to be a 13-year-old named Zoe Herd.

“On September 30 2020, O’Hare sent a message to ‘Zoe’, with witness Cootes responding she was a 13-year-old girl.

“O’Hare said he was 52.

“The accused asked ‘Zoe’ for Kik details. Communication continued through Kik messenger.

“He sent an image to ‘Zoe’ of him and his dog.

“He asked if she wore pyjamas to bed and that she had ‘nice, small boobs’ and that he would like to see more pictures of her.”

Post-lockdown meeting suggestion

Mr Sweeney continued: “He told ‘Zoe’ they could get a room together and ‘cuddle’ ‘when the virus was over’.

“He told her he would like to wrap her up for Christmas.

“The decoy asked O’Hare if ‘sex would hurt’ and he responded ‘only once’.

“He sent ‘Zoe’ a picture and video of his penis.

“He continually asked to meet her.

“He asked for her mobile number.”

Mr Cootes eventually contacted police with the information O’Hare had shared with him.

Admission to police

Police arrested O’Hare, who responded to being cautioned and charged with: “I’ve been asked for images.

“I sent them, I am not going to lie.”

When police searched his Samsung phone they found images of children aged between 5 and 8-years-old, with their genitals exposed.

Sheriff Alastair Carmichael called for social work and criminal justice reports and a restriction of liberty order assessment, granting O’Hare bail.

O’Hare pleaded guilty on indictment to attempting to communicate indecently with a child and possessing indecent images of children between September 30 2020 and February 7 2021.

He will return to Dundee Sheriff Court on June 7 for sentencing.

He has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

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A Carnoustie paedophile who told police he wanted to be caught after using software in an attempt to wipe his computer has been placed under supervision.

Gregor Mackay, 43, will be on the Sex Offenders Register for the next three years and must take part in a rehabilitation programme for sex offenders.

He was sentenced to the community-based order as a direct alternative to custody.

Fiscal depute Lora Apostolova told Dundee Sheriff Court at an earlier trial how Mackays home was raided on March 29 last year.

A search warrant was granted and a number of electronic devices were recovered.

Officers found images of children aged between one and 12 involved in sexual activity.

The user of the device had downloaded and viewed material.

The opinion of the examiner was that the user of the device has accessed the internet to download and view child sexual assault and abuse images.

This has been achieved using software that enabled online activity and which facilitates the downloading of indecent files, and shows the subsequent use of cleaning software in an attempt to cover up their activity.

The accused was arrested and made a full admission.

He stated that he had done this because he wanted to get caught by the police.

Secret computer

Mackay had appeared in court in October 2020 and was released on bail with a special condition barring him from having internet-enabled devices without telling the police.

The court heard when police turned up at his home last year they found he had secretly bought himself a new device.

Mackay, 43, of Craigmill Gardens, admitted downloading indecent images of children between January 8 2017 and June 22 2020.

He also admitted having an internet-enabled device without registering it with police on March 29, having been granted bail on October 13 2020.

Sheriff George Way warned Mackay if he did not comply with this sentencing order, he will be sent to prison.

The number of images and nature of images are at a modest level.

He will be required to undertake the Tay Project Making Changes programme.

This is a direct alternative to a custodial sentence.

You are a first offender.

Failure to comply with this order, without reasonable explanation, if the order is breached there is no second chance.

You will be subject to the full requirements of the sexual offender notification register for the duration of your supervision period.

Description

Sex offender Gavin Ross, who was jailed for dancing at the side of the A90 with his trousers around his ankles, shouted to the guard: What do you think of this, then?

The 41-year-old appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted intentionally exposing his genitals in a sexual manner to an employee at the citys jail on August 29, 2020.

The court was told his sexual offending could stem from injuries he received in a car crash 23 years ago.

Seven years on the register

Sheriff Euan Duthie told Ross: You recognise how inappropriate your behaviour was.

It is unacceptable for prison employees to have to put up with this sort of conduct.

Ross, of Strathmore Avenue, Forfar, was jailed for 163 days.

He will stay on the Sex Offenders Register for seven years.

Fiscal depute Andrew Harding told the court the complainer, a female prison officer, was on duty in B-Hall at around 3pm.

She heard the accused, a prisoner, shout her name from a landing above.

The complainer looked up and witnessed the accused standing over the railings.

She heard the accused shout her name and said: What do you think of this?

He then proceeded to show his penis.

Solicitor Amy Fox, defending, said her client is very apologetic.

She said: Mr Ross was in a very bad car accident around 20 years ago.

He sustained a brain injury and was in hospital for several months.

Ms Fox said: It does seem strange that the offending of this nature started after his accident.

Ross fully expected to be jailed, she said.

Roadside dance

In May 2019, Ross appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court and admitted exposing his genitals to three people on the A90.

The court heard witnesses travelling along the Dundee to Forfar stretch noticed a man at the side of the road, with his trousers at his ankles.

He had both hands in the air and was waving at oncoming vehicles, fiscal depute Laura McGillvery said.

Ross was spotted about five minutes later by the occupants of another passing car.

As they got closer, they saw him give a thumbs up gesture, said Ms McGillvery.

Ross was jailed for 14 months.

In August 2016, Ross was ordered to carry out 120 hours unpaid work after admitting throwing a bottle and brick at traffic on the route before walking into the path of oncoming vehicles.

Similar case

Earlier this week, Dundee Sheriff Court heard another incidence of a sex offender blaming car crash injuries for his subsequent offending.

Jordan Phillips, 32, carried out sexual assaults on a woman and a teenager in the city.

A sheriff said he would not jail him after the court was told injuries he sustained in a car crash had been partly to blame.

Sheriff Paul Brown said: I am told by social workers and a clinical neuropsychologist that you suffered traumatic injury which has led to cognitive impairment and that has been a significant factor in your offending.

What that means is it significantly reduces the blameworthiness which attaches to you.

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A nauseating man who degraded a young girl before sexually abusing her has been jailed for six years.

Lewis Smith, 27, also raped a woman while she slept and was unable to provide consent.

A jury heard how Smith, of Inverkeilor, Angus, subjected his first victim to a series of horrifying assaults, which saw him bite her nose and strangle her.

Jurors heard how he also spat on her, forced food into her mouth and punched her on body, before forcing her to eat human waste.

Our society will not tolerate such abusive behaviour.

Lady Poole

Sentencing him at the High Court in Edinburgh on Friday, judge Lady Poole said prison was the only suitable punishment for his crimes.

Ordering him to be supervised by the authorities for three years following his release, Lady Poole said: You were convicted following trial of actions which can only be described as nauseating.

I have read the victim impact statements which have been placed before the court and I have read of the suffering experienced by the complainers in these acts and the after-effects of your actions.

You have caused the complainers in this case considerable physical and psychological harm.

You also continue to refuse to accept responsibility for your actions.

Our society will not tolerate such abusive behaviour.

No other method than the imposition of a custodial sentence is appropriate.

Catalogue of violence

Smith, of Inverkeilor, was found guilty last month of rape, sexual and physical assault and breach of the peace charges following a trial in Edinburgh.

Sentence had been deferred for the court to obtain reports on his character.

During proceedings, the court heard how Smith, a self-employed joiner, raped a woman who was intoxicated and asleep in June 2019.

He attacked her a second time while she pretended to be sleeping, before removing her lower clothing and sexually assaulting her on a third occasion.

A jury also found the brute guilty of engaging in a course of conduct which was likely to cause a woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, fear or alarm.

He shouted, swore, made derogatory remarks about her appearance, threatened her with violence and denied her access to money.

On a separate occasion, he grabbed her by her clothing and pushed her, all to her injury.

The horrific offences took place at various addresses in the Arbroath and Montrose areas between June 2016 and October 2019.

He was finally brought to justice after police became aware of his activities.

Remorseless

Smith denied any wrongdoing.

On Friday, defence advocate Gary Allan QC told Lady Poole that his client still maintains his innocence.

Mr Allan said: He is a man who previously had never come to the attention of the police it is his first offence.

He has worked throughout his life, which I submit is positive.

He still continues to have the support of his family.

He continues to maintain his position from trial.

Lady Poole also placed Smith on the Sex Offenders Register for an indefinite period.

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AN Angus chip shop boss has been placed on the sex offenders register after demanding a schoolboy perform a sex act on him.

David Crabb, who runs Trinity Fish Bar and Restaurant in Brechin, pled guilty to telling a teenager to get on his knees and perform a sex act.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was also subjected to a slew of homophobic comments by 64-year-old Crabb the fortnight before.

He said that Crabb would make comments.

Hes been placed on the sex offenders register for six months and Im happy with that.

The teenager explained Crabb had also addressed him as a little p **** .

Crabb, the businesss director and catering manager, was sentenced at Forfar Sheriff Court last week, having pled guilty to a pair of charges against the schoolboy.

Crabb, the businesss director and catering manager, was sentenced at Forfar Sheriff Court last week, having pled guilty to a pair of charges against the schoolboy.

He admitted that on various occasions between July 15 and July 31 2020 he behaved in a threatening or abusive manner by repeatedly making homophobic remarks towards the boy.

He also pled guilty to communicating indecently with the teenager and asking him to get on his knees and perform the sex act on August 2 2020.

Crabb, who lives a stones throw from his business on Trinity Road, was placed on the sex offenders register for six months.

He was also made subject to a community payback order which requires him to carry out unpaid work.

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THE Earl of Starthmore has been jailed for ten months after committing a sex attack in his Scottish castle.

Simon Bowes-Lyon, 34, pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman at Glamis Castle, the seat of the earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne, part of the late Queen Mother’s family.

Bowes-Lyon, who inherited his family’s large Holwick estate in Teesdale in 2016, was sentenced at Dundee Sheriff Court on Tuesday. His father, Michael Fergus Bowes-Lyon, was the Queen's cousin.

The court heard that sexual assault was committed last February during a three-day public relations event at the castle hosted by Bowes-Lyon.

Sentencing, Sheriff Alistair Carmichael said the complainer had shown no sexual interest in the landowner.

Sheriff Carmichael said: “She had gone to bed early because she had to leave early the next morning.

“This assault involved you going to her bedroom at about 1.20pm, persuading her to open the door of her bedroom and then pushing your way into the room and pushing her down onto the bed. You then grabbed her hard by a breast and nipple, tried to lift her nightdress up, followed her into the bathroom and stopped her from closing that door, followed her back into the bedroom, pushed her against a wall there.”

He grabbed her bottom and intimate areas, the sheriff said. The multi-millionaire landowner then “got in to bed with her, pulled at her, repeatedly shut the bedroom door when she tried to open it, continued to pull at her and tried to kiss her”.

Sheriff Carmichael told Bowes-Lyon: “Throughout all of this she made it clear that she wanted you to stop.

“She told you repeatedly that she had a boyfriend, repeatedly told you to leave and repeatedly had to keep pushing you away from her.

“All of which you ignored. Once she’d finally managed to eject you from her bedroom, you returned to the door and pleaded with her to let you back in.

“You were drunk. The assault and your refusal to leave spanned some 20 minutes.”

The victim was so afraid that she locked her door and wedged a chair under the handle and was left shaking, the court heard.

The sheriff added that she still has nightmares.

He added: “The amounts of force, aggression and persistence that you used are concerning.

“In mitigation, you apologised to her soon after the assault, you have expressed remorse, you have accepted responsibility for you actions, you have no previous convictions and you appear to

be otherwise of good character.”

Dundee Sheriff Court was told that Bowes-Lyon had been assessed by experts as posing a “medium risk” of committing more sexual crimes.

The court imposed an initial sentence of 15 months and reduced it to ten months to recognise the plea of guilty at the first opportunity.

Bowes-Lyon was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

After his initial court appearance last month, he said he was “greatly ashamed” of his actions, adding: “I did not think I was capable of behaving the way I did but have had to face up to it and take responsibility.

“My apologies go, above all, to the woman concerned, but I would also like to apologise to family, friends and colleagues for the distress I have caused them.”

Description

An Angus pervert set up a hidden camera to film a teenage girl naked in her bedroom then was caught when she visited his house and borrowed his laptop as an adult.

William Geddes, 59, was caught when the woman discovered a folder on the computer marked with her name.

When she opened it she found more than 30 videos inside of her dressing and undressing.

The stunned woman, who cannot be named, fled the house in Carnoustie with the laptop.

Geddes later tracked her to a supermarket cafe in Arbroath and tried to run off with the computer but was stopped by the womans partner.

He faces a prison term after he admitted three sex charges.

Fiscal depute Stewart Duncan told Dundee Sheriff Court: She attended the house and was using the laptop when she noticed a folder that contained a number of video files that were marked with her name.

She opened one, dated from 2012, and saw it was of him walking into the room holding a recording device and putting it on a shelf before exiting.

She saw herself entering from the bathroom wearing just a towel then taking it off leaving herself naked.

He then re-entered after she left the room and took it off the shelf.

She left the house and went home with the laptop and she and her partner found a number of videos.

All appeared to have been filmed in her bedroom. She had never been aware of it happening.

She arranged to meet family members at Morrisons and five minutes after leaving the accused attended her address and was told by her partner she had left with the laptop.

She was waiting at Morrisons for others when he arrived and asked what she had found.

He said he would delete it and then grabbed her backpack and went to leave the store.

As he left he was approached by her partner and a struggle ensured with the result that the partner took possession of the laptop and police were contacted.

In total 31 videos with a total run time of 21 hours 19 minutes were found.

Geddes, 59, of Braehead Drive, Carnoustie, pleaded guilty on indictment to charges under the Sexual Offences Scotland Act and to possessing indecent images of children.

The offences were committed between December 2010 and May 2014.

Defence solicitor Angela McLardy said she would give her plea in mitigation of the charges at a later sentencing date.

Sheriff Tom Hughes deferred sentence until next month for social work background reports and released him on bail meantime.

Geddes was placed on the sex offenders register meantime.

Description

An Angus man who coerced a woman into having sex with a stranger before sending revenge porn to her family is appealing his conviction.

Clive Weatherhogg, 43, was jailed for six years in May last year after a jury at Dundee Sheriff Court found him guilty of the crimes.

The offences were so severe that the case was transferred by Sheriff George Way to the High Court in Edinburgh so an appropriate sentence could be administered.

But nine months after his sentencing in the capital, agents acting for Weatherhogg are now set to appeal his conviction and sentence at the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh.

A spokesman for the court said: A diet for the full hearing will take place on February 2, followed by a procedural hearing on February 8.

Weatherhogg, formerly of Dubton Cottages, Guthrie, near Forfar, set up meetings between a woman and a man who he found through an adult website.

Weatherhogg, who also once resided at Rose Cottage East, Balmalcolm, by Cupar, made them film their sessions and then uploaded one of the videos to a website.

He then sent a message containing the sexually explicit clip to the victims sister on Christmas Day 2014.

He also revealed graphic video footage to their father.

At the time of Weatherhoggs sentencing last year, Judge Lady Wolffe told him that he had been convicted of odious crimes.

She added: I am of the view there is no alternative to a custodial sentence.

Weatherhogg was also placed on the sex offenders register. He was found guilty of coercing the woman to engage in sexual activity and intercourse with a man between September 10 2013 and September 17 the following year.

He was also convicted of intentionally causing the womans sister and father to look at sexual images and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by sending text messages to the woman and uploading footage of her engaged in sexual activity on Christmas Day 2014.

Mary Miller of Womens Aid in Dundee said while she understood a persons right to appeal convictions and sentences, she said it would have a negative impact on the victim. She said: It must be dreadful for the poor woman getting this dragged up again and again.

In cases like this, it means they cant get closure with whats happened to them and they cant move on.

Its just bringing it all back for her over and over.

I would say however, that the police and courts are getting better at keeping victims informed with situations like this.