A man who left his own mother blind in one eye following a savage attack on her has been jailed for 16 months. Jonathan Kempston repeatedly punched mum Dorothy Tough to the face during a violent argument in the family home in Edinburgh last year. The brutal assault left Mrs Tough lying in a pool of blood on her kitchen floor and suffering from a ruptured left eyeball. Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the 71-year-old victim has lost the sight in her eye following the attack. Kempston, 41, pleaded guilty to assaulting his mother to her severe injury, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment when he appeared at the capital court in May. He returned to the dock for sentencing in June where Sheriff Gillian Sharp said due to the “level of violence involved there is no alternative to a custodial sentence”. Sheriff Sharp sentenced Kempston, of Leith, to 16 months in custody. A victim impact statement from Mrs Tough was read out in court stating she had to have three operations to her eye following the attack by her son. She said she has “adjusted well” to the disability but has to wear an eye patch when out in public. The pensioner added she also “copes very well with everyday duties” and the hardest part of the incident is having no contact with her son. A man who left his own mother blind in one eye following a savage attack on her has been jailed for 16 months. Jonathan Kempston repeatedly punched mum Dorothy Tough to the face during a violent argument in the family home in Edinburgh last year. The brutal assault left Mrs Tough lying in a pool of blood on her kitchen floor and suffering from a ruptured left eyeball. Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the 71-year-old victim has lost the sight in her eye following the attack. Kempston, 41, pleaded guilty to assaulting his mother to her severe injury, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment when he appeared at the capital court in May. He returned to the dock for sentencing in June where Sheriff Gillian Sharp said due to the “level of violence involved there is no alternative to a custodial sentence”. Sheriff Sharp sentenced Kempston, of Leith, to 16 months in custody. A victim impact statement from Mrs Tough was read out in court stating she had to have three operations to her eye following the attack by her son. She said she has “adjusted well” to the disability but has to wear an eye patch when out in public. The pensioner added she also “copes very well with everyday duties” and the hardest part of the incident is having no contact with her son.
A man who left his own mother blind in one eye following a savage attack on her has been jailed for 16 months. Jonathan Kempston repeatedly punched mum Dorothy Tough to the face during a violent argument in the family home in Edinburgh last year. The brutal assault left Mrs Tough lying in a pool of blood on her kitchen floor and suffering from a ruptured left eyeball. Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the 71-year-old victim has lost the sight in her eye following the attack. Kempston, 41, pleaded guilty to assaulting his mother to her severe injury, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment when he appeared at the capital court in May. He returned to the dock for sentencing in June where Sheriff Gillian Sharp said due to the “level of violence involved there is no alternative to a custodial sentence”. Sheriff Sharp sentenced Kempston, of Leith, to 16 months in custody. A victim impact statement from Mrs Tough was read out in court stating she had to have three operations to her eye following the attack by her son. She said she has “adjusted well” to the disability but has to wear an eye patch when out in public. The pensioner added she also “copes very well with everyday duties” and the hardest part of the incident is having no contact with her son. | Alexander Lawrie

Edinburgh crime: 13 criminals handed sentences in June at Edinburgh's courts - in pictures

Kevin Quinn
By Kevin Quinn

Reporter

Published 2nd Jul 2024, 15:34 GMT
Updated 2nd Jul 2024, 18:18 GMT

Edinburgh’s courts dished out sentences in June for crimes including rape, theft and historic sexual abuse.

A 34-year-old man was jailed for eight years for multiple violent offences against women and girls in West Lothian. And a man who left his own mother blind in one eye following a savage attack on her was jailed for 16 months.

An Edinburgh chef who raped two former partners and abused a third over a three-year period was jailed for nine years at the High Court in Edinburgh. While, a 54-year-old man who defrauded the University of Edinburgh of over £3.3 million was jailed for seven years.

A convicted double rapist who exposed and fondled himself in front of two female prison guards has had his lengthy jail term extended last month. Tobias Davies was seen masturbating while lying on his bed naked from the waist down when the guards opened up his cell door at HMP Edinburgh in August last year. Davies, 37, failed to stop the solo sex act and was described as “not in any rush to cover himself” when challenged by the disgusted officers. Davies returned to the court for sentencing in June where Sheriff Julius Komorowski said a concurrent sentence would be “inappropriate” given the serious nature of the offence. The sheriff handed Davies a nine month jail term that will run consecutively to his current sentence and also gave him an extended sentence of 12 months. Davies was sentenced to a 10 year extended prison term in 2021 after he was found guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh of attacking and raping two women.

5. Double rapist exposed himself

A convicted double rapist who exposed and fondled himself in front of two female prison guards has had his lengthy jail term extended last month. Tobias Davies was seen masturbating while lying on his bed naked from the waist down when the guards opened up his cell door at HMP Edinburgh in August last year. Davies, 37, failed to stop the solo sex act and was described as “not in any rush to cover himself” when challenged by the disgusted officers. Davies returned to the court for sentencing in June where Sheriff Julius Komorowski said a concurrent sentence would be “inappropriate” given the serious nature of the offence. The sheriff handed Davies a nine month jail term that will run consecutively to his current sentence and also gave him an extended sentence of 12 months. Davies was sentenced to a 10 year extended prison term in 2021 after he was found guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh of attacking and raping two women. | Neil Hanna

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An Edinburgh chef who raped two former partners and abused a third over a three-year period was jailed on June 7 for nine years. Haydn Edmonds was found guilty of four charges on May 7 following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh. The 37-year-old chef targeted his victims, all former partners, in a campaign of domestic abuse, in the Edinburgh area between June 2016 and June 2019. He caused his first victim fear or alarm by threatening to harm himself, holding a knife to his wrist, and sending her a photograph of tablets along with abusive texts. Edmonds then raped a woman in 2016 before carrying out a serious sexual assault on another victim in 2019. He also acted in a threatening or abusive manner that caused his victim alarm after he held a sword to his jaw while issuing threats to harm himself. At the High Court in Edinburgh on June 7, he was given an 11-year extended sentence with a nine-year custodial term. He was placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely. Non-harassment orders were granted for all three victims, for an indefinite period.

6. Rapist chef jailed for nine years

An Edinburgh chef who raped two former partners and abused a third over a three-year period was jailed on June 7 for nine years. Haydn Edmonds was found guilty of four charges on May 7 following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh. The 37-year-old chef targeted his victims, all former partners, in a campaign of domestic abuse, in the Edinburgh area between June 2016 and June 2019. He caused his first victim fear or alarm by threatening to harm himself, holding a knife to his wrist, and sending her a photograph of tablets along with abusive texts. Edmonds then raped a woman in 2016 before carrying out a serious sexual assault on another victim in 2019. He also acted in a threatening or abusive manner that caused his victim alarm after he held a sword to his jaw while issuing threats to harm himself. At the High Court in Edinburgh on June 7, he was given an 11-year extended sentence with a nine-year custodial term. He was placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely. Non-harassment orders were granted for all three victims, for an indefinite period. | Stock

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A computer specialist who changed his name in a bid to hide a past child abuse conviction has been jailed after he sent sexual messages to a teenage schoolgirl. Damian Andrew, 54, sent Snapchat posts to a 15-year-old victim including asking her if she would "dress like a slut” if they ever met. Andrews was snared after police found vile chat logs on a mobile phone he had stashed in a cooker hood at his flat in Musselburgh, East Lothian. Police found Andrews had deleted the messages from the device but a cyber crime investigation proved he had been sending the messages to the girl in February last year. Despite his claims of innocence a jury found him guilty by majority decision after deliberating for around 90 minutes. On June 12, Sheriff Matthew Auchincloss jailed the computer expert for 28 months backdated to June last year and placed him on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

7. Computer expert jailed for messaging schoolgirl

A computer specialist who changed his name in a bid to hide a past child abuse conviction has been jailed after he sent sexual messages to a teenage schoolgirl. Damian Andrew, 54, sent Snapchat posts to a 15-year-old victim including asking her if she would "dress like a slut” if they ever met. Andrews was snared after police found vile chat logs on a mobile phone he had stashed in a cooker hood at his flat in Musselburgh, East Lothian. Police found Andrews had deleted the messages from the device but a cyber crime investigation proved he had been sending the messages to the girl in February last year. Despite his claims of innocence a jury found him guilty by majority decision after deliberating for around 90 minutes. On June 12, Sheriff Matthew Auchincloss jailed the computer expert for 28 months backdated to June last year and placed him on the sex offenders register for 10 years. | Alexander Lawrie

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An Edinburgh man who was caught with a horror collection of child abuse images was jailed on June 14 for 16 months and had his name added to the sex offenders register for 10 years. Martin Lipscombe was found with more than 4000 images and videos depicting youngsters as young as four years old being sexually abused while “blindfolded” and with their “limbs bound”. The 33-year-old was caught with the vile horde just 15 months after he escaped a jail sentence for a previous child sex offence. Prosecutor Chelsea Martin said police received intelligence Lipscombe was accessing child abuse images and turned up at his home at around 8am on January 6 last year. The court was told the sales assistant was at home with his grandmother and he had handed over a mobile phone to officers stating “he knew what this is about”.

8. Jailed for child sex abuse images

An Edinburgh man who was caught with a horror collection of child abuse images was jailed on June 14 for 16 months and had his name added to the sex offenders register for 10 years. Martin Lipscombe was found with more than 4000 images and videos depicting youngsters as young as four years old being sexually abused while “blindfolded” and with their “limbs bound”. The 33-year-old was caught with the vile horde just 15 months after he escaped a jail sentence for a previous child sex offence. Prosecutor Chelsea Martin said police received intelligence Lipscombe was accessing child abuse images and turned up at his home at around 8am on January 6 last year. The court was told the sales assistant was at home with his grandmother and he had handed over a mobile phone to officers stating “he knew what this is about”. | Alexander Lawrie

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