A Midlothian man was jailed for nine years for a series of offences, including causing fear and alarm by setting fire to front doors in Penicuik in November, 2022 in addition to disorder offences.
A 35-year-old man was sentenced to 16 years in jail at the High Court in Edinburgh last month after he was found guilty of 19 charges involving violence, sexual assault, threats and abuse against women over a 12-year period.
While, a priest who was caught sexually assaulting a sleeping man on an Edinburgh train was jailed for 16 months in December.
1. Conman swindled thousands to feed gambling habit
Callous conman Michael Higgins conned 12 pals into handing over large sums of cash after claiming he could organise cheap rounds of golf at the prestigious St Andrews Old Course in Fife. Higgins, 42, also swindled women he met on dating websites out of cash after claiming he could supply one with cheap Apple products and telling another his sister needed help with vet bills. The crook also managed to convince a pensioner who worked for a loan company into sending him £6000 of her own funds after he claimed he had to go into a private hospital for an operation. Higgins, from Livingston, West Lothian, then spent all the stolen cash on funding his gambling addiction and splashing out on designer clothes. Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told during the sentencing hearing on December 3, that Higgins claimed he had been under the influence of opioid medication for an illness that had affected his decision making. He had previously pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining a total of £18,225 from 15 victims between February 1, 2020 and May 28, 2022. Higgins was jailed for a total of three years, 10 months and 24 days and handed 10 year non-harassment orders banning him from having any contact with victims Fluer Brand and Katie Black. | Alexander Lawrie
2. Activists smashed Stone of Destiny cabinet
Two activists who smashed the cabinet housing the Stone of Destiny in a protest over rising food prices were last month ordered to carry out unpaid work. Eilidh Priest, 26, and Catriona Roberts, 22, were part of a group who vandalised the glass casing containing the historic artefact at Edinburgh Castle last year. Priest, also know as Jamie Priest, and Roberts are members of the protest group This Is Rigged and were being shown round the Crown Jewel room by a tour guide when they launched the attack. The glass cabinet was sprayed with the words ‘The people are mightier than the Lord’ in Gaelic before a male protester was seen to strike the cabinet with items including a hammer and a chisel. The pair returned to the dock for sentencing on December 5, where Sheriff Alistair Noble was told the damage caused by the protest amounted to £2798. Priest was sentenced to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work while Roberts, who had committed the offence while on bail for another matter, was ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work. | Alexander Lawrie
3. Drug dealer avoids jail
A drug dealer who was caught smuggling almost £90,000 of cannabis into Scotland was spared a jail sentence last month. Abdikadir Adawa Ahmed flew into Edinburgh Airport from Thailand while carrying 21 kilos of cannabis in his luggage in February this year. Ahmed, 21, was stopped and searched by Border Force officers who discovered the huge amount of “herbal matter” stuffed into his suitcase. Ahmed pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis to others when he appeared at the city’s sheriff court earlier this year. He returned to the dock for sentencing on December 9 where lawyer James McMackin said his client had agreed to take part in the smuggling operation in a bid to pay off “significant debts”. The defence agent added Ahmed “did not appreciate the value of what he had been given” and had been “taken advantage of” by those who gave him the drugs to transport. Ahmed, from Washwood Heath, Birmingham, was placed on a social work supervision order for 18 months and must carry out 270 hours of unpaid work in the community. He was also ordered to wear an electronic tag and stay within his home address between 7pm and 7am for the next 11 months as a direct alternative to a custodial sentence. | Alexander Lawrie
![Alexanda Laverock pictured, left, after being confronted by Scotland’s Child Protection Team Against Sexual Abuse, and, right, outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court, has been placed on the sex offenders register and is to be banned from working with children. Alexanda Laverock contacted a social media account belonging to ‘14-year-old Stacey’ and began sending her explicit sexual messages. Laverock, 35, told the child she looked “cute” and asked her if she was “into older [men]” during the online contact in October this year. But instead of speaking to a schoolgirl, Laverock was in contact with an adult decoy belonging to the paedophile hunter group Scotland’s Child Protection Team Against Sexual Abuse. Members of the group then tracked him down to his home in the Tollcross area of Edinburgh and live streamed the confrontation to more than 70,000 social media viewers on October 31. The capital’s sheriff court was told the police were then contacted and the hunter group handed over a folder containing all the evidence they had collected on him. Laverock appeared in the dock on December 13, where he pleaded guilty to two offences of sending sexual written communication and a sexual image to who he believed was a child aged between 13 and 16, between October 20 and 31 this year. Sheriff Christopher Dickson placed Laverock on the sex offenders register on an interim basis and deferred sentence to next month for reports and a restriction of liberty order assessment. Sheriff Dickson also said Laverock’s name would be referred to Scottish Ministers for inclusion on the list of those deemed unsuitable for working with children and vulnerable adults in the future.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2025/01/01/11/20/Pervert-caught-by-hunter-group.jpeg?crop=3:2&trim=&width=640)
4. Pervert caught by hunter group
Alexanda Laverock pictured, left, after being confronted by Scotland’s Child Protection Team Against Sexual Abuse, and, right, outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court, has been placed on the sex offenders register and is to be banned from working with children. Alexanda Laverock contacted a social media account belonging to ‘14-year-old Stacey’ and began sending her explicit sexual messages. Laverock, 35, told the child she looked “cute” and asked her if she was “into older [men]” during the online contact in October this year. But instead of speaking to a schoolgirl, Laverock was in contact with an adult decoy belonging to the paedophile hunter group Scotland’s Child Protection Team Against Sexual Abuse. Members of the group then tracked him down to his home in the Tollcross area of Edinburgh and live streamed the confrontation to more than 70,000 social media viewers on October 31. The capital’s sheriff court was told the police were then contacted and the hunter group handed over a folder containing all the evidence they had collected on him. Laverock appeared in the dock on December 13, where he pleaded guilty to two offences of sending sexual written communication and a sexual image to who he believed was a child aged between 13 and 16, between October 20 and 31 this year. Sheriff Christopher Dickson placed Laverock on the sex offenders register on an interim basis and deferred sentence to next month for reports and a restriction of liberty order assessment. Sheriff Dickson also said Laverock’s name would be referred to Scottish Ministers for inclusion on the list of those deemed unsuitable for working with children and vulnerable adults in the future. | Alexander Lawrie