Ciaran Shanks

2 weeks ago | thecourier.co.uk | Ciaran Shanks

A terrified pensioner was robbed of hundreds of pounds after a stranger smashed his way into his Dundee home. Steven Mitchell climbed through a living room window, broken with a stone, on Corso Street and demanded cash from the 72-year-old. Repeat offender Mitchell, who was under the influence of substances, did not know the man but believed he had just received benefit money.

2 weeks ago | thecourier.co.uk | Ciaran Shanks

A Dundee teenager battered his partner in front of terrified children during months of “despicable” abuse. Thomas Mullen forced his way into the woman’s home and bit a man’s ear, leaving him permanently disfigured, while he held an infant. Dundee Sheriff Court heard how the woman feared for her life while being pinned down and repeatedly punched. The 18-year-old was jailed after a sheriff ruled nothing could be done to help him in the community.

2 weeks ago | thecourier.co.uk | Ciaran Shanks

A homophobic thug left another man with broken bones in his face after viciously attacking him in Dundee city centre. Christopher Stevenson, 27, called his victim homophobic slurs, while punching and kicking him on the face. The man required 11 stitches and was left “permanently disfigured” as a result of Stevenson’s brutal assault on Panmure Street. Dundee Sheriff Court was told how the victim and another person were walking home after leaving a pub in the early hours of the morning.

2 weeks ago | thecourier.co.uk | Ciaran Shanks

A “deplorable” Fife sex offender who abused a young girl over a six-year period has been locked up. Gary Kay made his victim believe she would be jailed if she revealed his horrific crimes. Kay is now on the sex offenders register for life after a High Court jury previously found him guilty of two separate sex attack charges. The girl was just nine when Kay, of Buckhaven, began abusing her.

2 weeks ago | thecourier.co.uk | Ciaran Shanks

A convicted drug-dealer is awaiting sentence after he admitted being caught with a Ford tipper van stolen from a Monifieth home. Michael Mulrein was initially allowed on his way by police after being found with multiple sets of keys near where the van had been dumped. At that stage, it had not been reported stolen but police later pieced matters together. Reports have been ordered on Mulrein by a sheriff who said he suspected his crime could be “very sophisticated”.