Courts

Passengers at Edinburgh Airport have reported baggage problems in recent years.

Man jailed after being caught smuggling drugs at airport

Two guilty over teenager's horrific injuries escaping gang attack

Steven Dyer was found guilty

Shamed rugby manager sentenced after sending inappropriate messages

Morris McLean appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court

Man facing jail after being caught smuggling drugs worth £85,000

William Budge, 62, caused ‘life-threatening’ injuries to his former wife when he drove over her twice on April 14 2024 in Muirhouse Parkway – three weeks after she ended their 33-year marriage. At the High Court in Edinburgh on February 5, Budge was jailed for seven years and four months. A non-harassment order, banning him from contacting or attempting to contact the victim, was granted for a period of 15 years.

14 criminals sentenced in February

A car dealer must pay more than £9,000 in fines and costs after a visitor to his premises was seriously injured when he fell down an unprotected drop.

Man falls down 6ft drop and gets 'seriously' injured at car dealership

Kim Avis faked his own death at a US beach.

Notorious rapist who faked own death in US has sentence extended

Lisa Telfer (left) with one of the surviving animals

Charity praises lifetime ban for woman who starved dog to death

Adil Sheikh, 49, failed to provide adequate care for the 17 animals that he kept in the back garden of his home

Man banned from keeping animals after rabbits left mutilated

Scott Joyce, 43, outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Music fan escapes jail after fracturing security guard's skull

Liza Telfer has been banned from keeping pets for life after leaving a dog to starve to death

Woman banned from keeping pets after leaving dog to starve to death

'Brazen' shoplifter hides stolen goods in a pushchair

CCTV: Brazen shoplifter crams pushchair with stolen goods in Poundland

Men sexually assaulted children and swapped pictures of their abuse

Former social worker facing jail for assaults at children's home

Steven Auld has been spared a jail sentence.

Man who molested 'vulnerable' teenage girl in bedroom spared jail

Authorities in the UK have intensified efforts to tackle illegal streaming devices such as modified Fire TV sticks and IPTV services

Dodgy streaming mastermind caught by police
Authorities have been cracking down on ‘dodgy’ streams and firesticks 🚨
Matthew Mohan-Hickson

A photo of Alexanda Laverock being confronted by the paedophile hunter group.

Man in court after sending sexual images to 'schoolgirl'

Child abuser handed maximum 300 hour community payback order

Hearts supporter banned after racist comment

An actor and musician who set up a hidden camera to film children undressing during costume changes was jailed and placed on the sex offenders register for life in January.
Thomas Jason Connell, 27, also recorded adult victims while they showered at the homes of friends he was visiting and was found to have filmed children as they undressed at a swimming pool changing room.
The singer-songwriter - who performed on stage as T-J Connell - also upskirted women at an Edinburgh train station and stored child abuse pictures on his phone.
Connell had previously been convicted of possessing indecent images of children, and this latest huge haul of seedy recordings were uncovered when police carried out a home visit to check his devices in January last year.
He pleaded guilty to eight offences of voyeurism and possessing indecent images of children when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in December and returned to the dock for sentencing on January 10.
Sheriff Derek O’Carroll jailed Connell for a total of 42 months backdated to April last year and placed him on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period. Sheriff O’Carroll also imposed a 10 year sexual harm prevention order along with a 10 year non-harassment order for one of the victims.

Nine criminals handed sentences in January

Memories Of India Restaurant In Midlothian

Rat-infested restaurant slammed by inspectors after 'disgusting' find

Man given football banning order over racial abuse at derby match

Edinburgh man caught with £21,000 worth of cannabis

Joe Madden, 22, used a rock to vandalise the glass display cabinet

Man who vandalised Stone of Destiny case spared jail

Steven Dyer was found guilty

Rugby team manager sent indecent images to schoolboys while on trip

Plans lodged for padel courts at David Lloyd club

Chef jailed after violent campaign of sexual and domestic abuse
An Edinburgh man ‘who poses an extreme danger to women’ has been jailed for 12 years following a campaign of violent, sexual and domestic abuse.
Neil Johnstone

Eight criminals sentenced in December

Brad Albutt carried out three horror sex attacks on the victim - including two with the sharp implement

Soldier sexually assaulted woman with syringe

CCTV captures remarkable moment crook ransacks city centre jewellers

Five men have been found guilty of a conspiracy to rob a cannabis farm that led to the murder of Kevin Pokuta - and innocent and unrelated 19-year-old dad-of-two who was fatally shot by Jake Brown, of Horninglow Road, in a tragic case of mistaken identity.

Gunman opens fire at dad-of-two in 'mistaken identity' revenge killing

Jessie Rennie made the shocking comments about the school massacre during a live Tik Tok rant.

Tik Tok star threatened to kill children in Dunblane online rant

Abdikadir Adawa Ahmed, 21, pictured outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Drug dealer caught with £90,000 of cannabis at airport avoids jail

Eilidh (AKA Jamie) Priest, 26, wearing mask, and Catriona Roberts, 22, pictured outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Activists who smashed Stone of Destiny cabinet sentenced

Nisala Kulatunga, 23, targeted a vulnerable man by befriending him and then setting up a cannabis dealing business from his flat in the Leith area of Edinburgh. The desperate victim repeatedly asked Kulatunga to move out but he refused and carried on selling drugs to users from the property between June and October 2022. The flat was eventually raided by police and when around £15,000 of the Class B drug was found the Sri Lankan drug dealer attempted to pin blame on the homeowner.
Kulatunga pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis at an address in Leith, Edinburgh, between June 1 and October 2, 2022, when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court earlier this year. On November 3, Sheriff Noble sentenced Kulatunga to a community payback order as a direct alternative to a custody where he will have to complete 300 hours of unpaid work, the maximum hours allowed to be imposed.

In pictures: 12 criminals handed sentences in November

Bus driver Alan Boyd, pictured outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Bus driver who knocked over and killed elderly Hearts fan spared jail

Jose Herreros, 26, pictured outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Care assistant violently shook nine-week-old child

Andreas Gkertsos hiding his face outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court

Online stalker who terrorised woman ordered to pay compensation

Anthony McKnight, 38, made depraved videos of him attacking a young boy

Hotel manager jailed after filming himself abusing sleeping child

Edinburgh Sheriff Court, where John Martin stood trial over four days. Picture: NationalWorld

Edinburgh antiques dealer jailed for historic child sex abuse

Nisala Kulatunga, 23, targeted the man by befriending him and then setting up a cannabis dealing business from his flat

Cannabis dealer turned vulnerable man's flat into drug den

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.

14 criminals handed sentences in October - in pictures

Hugh Nelson has been jailed for 18 years. Photo: Greater Manchester Police

Jail for ‘depraved’ paedophile who used AI to make child abuse pics

Man in court on 27 charges

John Diver was heading home after officiating over two football matches when he lost consciousness and ploughed head on into a red Volvo

Driver suffers diabetic seizure and ploughs into elderly couple's car

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told this is the second sex attack carried out by Roderick Keith in recent years. Pic: File image

Violent doorman jailed for shocking abuse against six women

Anthony Ward was found with more than 85,000 pictures and videos of children being sexually abused by adults when police raided his Edinburgh home last year. During the police investigation officers also discovered the 66-year-old had been contacting children on an online video website and offering them money to perform sex acts. Ward pleaded guilty to a charge of taking or allowing to be taken images of children at his home between November 2020 and March last year when he appeared at the Edinburgh Sheriff Court in August. He also admitted to two offences of directing sexual communication towards children and instructing them to perform sex acts and returned to the dock for sentencing on September 10. Ward, of the city’s Calder area, was jailed for 20 months and was placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Criminals handed sentences in September

Two women, aged 88 and 93, targeted in car-jacking by masked men

John Diver was travelling along an Edinburgh road after refereeing two amateur football matches when he lost consciousness

Man suffered diabetic seizure and ploughed into car at 100mph

'Dangerous offender' who subjected women to ‘appalling abuse' jailed

James Demarco, pictured in 2007, being he was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh for murdering Jamie Ewart.

Notorious killer left prison guard disfigured during escape bid

Police officers called to give evidence - but accused had died

Massage therapist admits sexual assault of two female clients

Take That super-fan Julie McFarlane, 56, escaped a jail sentence.

Take That super-fan embezzled thousands of pounds from pensioner

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.

13 criminals handed sentences in June