A delivery driver who carried out “planned and deliberate” sexual assaults on two young girls was jailed for 30 months in October.
A North Berwick disabled author and his wife who carried out a hate campaign against their neighbours - including making malicious claims of child abuse and drug dealing - were banned from contacting the victims for 15 years and ordered to move home.
While, a man who raped a sleeping woman in Edinburgh before confessing during a YouTube interview a decade later was jailed last month.
And, a lovesick pensioner who embezzled thousands of pounds from her own mother after she was scammed in an online romance appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.
1. Neighbours from hell ordered to move home
A disabled author and his wife who carried out a hate campaign against their neighbours - including making malicious claims of child abuse and drug dealing - have been banned from contacting the victims for 15 years. David, 56, and Jacqueline Aston, 58, will also now have to move house after a sheriff imposed a banning order from the street they live on and ordered them to pay four neighbours £10,000 in compensation. The married couple made false reports to the police and local authority and recorded the neighbours on mobile phones on a near daily basis over a three year period. The Astons were found guilty of three charges of stalking by Sheriff John Cook following the conclusion of the trial last month and the couple returned to the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for sentencing on October 24. Jacqueline Aston was sentenced to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work and pay a total of £8,000 in compensation to neighbours Catriona Henderson and Stuart McMorris and Marie and Robert Bain. David Aston was placed under supervision for three years, ordered to pay Ms Henderson and Mr McMorris £2,000 in compensation and wear a tagging device and stay within his home between 6pm and 6am for eight months. The Astons were also handed 15 year non-harassment orders banning them from contacting six neighbours and given a non-harassment order banning them from the street they live on which will start on January 31 next year. | Alexander Lawrie
2. Former nurse embezzled thousands from a disabled children’s charity
A former East Lothian nurse who embezzled more than £17,000 from a disabled children’s charity to fund his gambling habit was given a community payback order last month. Alan Thorburn, a hospice nurse from Tranent, transferred money from accounts connected to Dreamflight, a charity which takes seriously ill children on holidays to Florida, to his personal bank account. The 40-year-old was ordered to perform 280 hours of unpaid work at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on October 2 after admitting a charge of embezzlement between January 2015 and March 2018. | Alexander Lawrie
3. Thug with Adolf Hitler tattoo threatened to murder black man
Salvador Apellaniz - who has eight Nazi inkings on his body including swastikas and SS emblems - warned officers they would “find a black man dead’ if he was forced to spend a night in custody following his arrest. A trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court also heard the Spanish national praised the Nazis’ conduct during World War 2 and made the comment “I hate blacks” during the outburst. The court heard 32-year-old Apellaniz made the “disgraceful” comments as he waited to be processed following his arrest outside an Edinburgh police station in November 2022. Apellaniz denied making the racist statements and stood trial at the capital court but was found guilty by a jury’s majority verdict in September. He returned to the dock for sentencing on October 3, where he was placed on a restriction of liberty order and must stay within his home address between 9pm and 7am for the next three months. | Alexander Lawrie
4. Man jailed after police find 6,000 indecent images of children during home raid
William McCulloch was found to have downloaded close to 6000 pictures and videos depicting the rape and abuse of young children when police raided his home last year. McCulloch, 62, attempted to hide his depraved obsession by storing the images on three devices in “secure folders” that required security settings to access them. Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told police received intelligence indecent material involving children was being accessed at McCulloch’s home in Penicuik, Midlothian. The court heard all three devices held thousands of indecent images of children. Fiscal depute Matthew Millar said a total of 5946 images and videos showing both male and female children described as aged between “infants and 15-years-old” were found on the devices. McCulloch returned to the dock on October 3 where Sheriff Charles Walls jailed him for 22 months and placed him on the sex offenders register for 10 years. | Alexander Lawrie