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.
9. Jailed for £1.6m cocaine operation
A man has was jailed in June for 10 years for his involvement in a large-scale cocaine operation in Scotland. Steven Gribble, aged 42, was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday, June 18, after pleading guilty to his role in serious organised crime. It comes after more than £1.6 million worth of the Class A drug was seized by police during an intelligence led operation and a search of a property in Aberdeen during October and November 2023. Detective Inspector John Pirie said: "We remain committed to disrupting those involved in serious and organised crime. This sentence is a result of months of extensive work to dismantle supply lines. A number of specialist officers were deployed during the operation, including surveillance officers and other covert resources." | Police Scotland
10. Man blamed lockdown for downloading child porn
An Edinburgh man who blamed the Covid lockdown for him downloading child abuse pornography avoided a jail sentence last month. Liam Purves was found with images depicting children as young as three-years-old being sexually abused by adults when police raided his home last year. Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the former theatre manager attempted to blame his isolation during the period of lockdown for his deviant offending. Purves, 40, pleaded guilty to a charge of making indecent images of children last month and returned to the dock for sentencing on June 20. Sheriff Julius Komorowski placed Purves on a three year supervision order and said he must complete the maximum term of 300 hours of unpaid work. His name was also added to the sex offenders register for three years. | Alexander Lawrie
11. Man who defrauded university jailed
A 54-year-old man, who defrauded the University of Edinburgh of over £3.3 million was jailed for seven years on June 24. Aasim Johar was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh after he was previously found guilty on Friday, May 24. Johar engineered a multi-million-pound scam between 2005 and 2015 through his role as a salesperson. The fraudulent scheme saw him earn commission through false and over-inflated invoices for cleaning products that were either not delivered or not required | Stock
12. Crime gang’s sex flats
A crime gang that trafficked vulnerable women and forced them to work in ‘sex flats’ across Edinburgh and Glasgow was jailed for a total of more than 20 years on June 25. Qin Huang, 31, Guolei Huang, 35, and Xiao Min, 38, were thwarted as part of Operation Fasthold, a joint Police Scotland and Home Office probe. Multiple women, mainly from East Asia, had been exploited to provide sexual services between December 2018 and September 2021. The trio were sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow after pleading guilty to charges under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act. Guolei Huang also pled guilty to a charge of keeping, managing or assisting in the management of a brothel. Each offence was aggravated by the connection of each accused to serious crime. Qin Huang was imprisoned for eight years, Guolei Huang was jailed for four years and three months, and Xiao Min will spend eight years and nine months behind bars. They ran a part of a lucrative prostitution network from a number of flats in Edinburgh, Glasgow and elsewhere in the United Kingdom. But they were convicted after an investigation uncovered the huge scale of their operation and established “significant financial proceeds” had been accrued from their crimes. | Police Scotland