Ross Gardiner

1 week ago | thecourier.co.uk | Ross Gardiner

A roofing firm has been fined a four-figure fine after an apprentice plummeted five metres while scraping moss from a Perth home. Konrad Grabczynski, 20, fell from the apex of a property at Langley Place in the Kinnoull area on July 18 last year and had to be taken to Ninewells. He suffered a fractured left ankle, a shattered right heel and a dislocated shoulder. He needed three months off work to recover.

1 week ago | thecourier.co.uk | Ross Gardiner

Soldiers, then stationed at Leuchars, have admitted their roles in a concerted attack on a St Andrews Open Championship worker during a night out. Ian Gunn and Scott Burns appeared in the dock together at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to admit the attack in the early hours of July 13 in 2022. Victim Stephen Costello was in St Andrews to work at the 150th Open Championships but spent the day before the tournament in Ninewells.

1 week ago | thecourier.co.uk | Ross Gardiner

An electrician from Perth stole £70,000 from his own business, transferring money into his account under the reference “booze fund” and using cash for holidays, restaurants and cinema trips. Scott Bathgate admitted embezzling from North Muirton-based My Eco Solutions over a five-year period. Bathgate, formerly of Blackford, used the company account to fund his personal lifestyle, including travel outside the UK and on a dating site.

2 weeks ago | thecourier.co.uk | Ross Gardiner

A Kinross-shire workman tried to scam an elderly Alzheimer’s patient out of £4,500 in a swiftly-rumbled cheque scam. Landscaper Mark McPhee took a blank cheque he had been given to buy materials but instead tried to cash the four-figure sum at a bank. The boozed-up crook wasn’t given a penny and his victim was promptly notified of his callous attempt. He appeared at Perth Sheriff Court via a video link from HMP Perth and was sentenced to a community payback order.

2 weeks ago | thecourier.co.uk | Ross Gardiner

A Stirling sex offender played dumb when police searched his home, claiming not to know the password to a secret child abuse cache on his phone. Ian Couper’s home was raided by police who examined his  phone. Couper told officers he did not know how to access a locked folder but cybercrime officers were quickly able to bypass the security measures and uncover his vile video stash. Now on the sex offenders register, the first offender will be sentenced in July.