Court / Court round up 12 March
A MAN who threatened a café worker and then told police he would have “smashed him” 10 years ago has been fined at Lerwick Sheriff Court.
Damien Gorman, from Lerwick’s Cruester View, took issue with being told he could not eat his own food in the seating area at the Clickimin café and threatened the worker who spoke to him.
The 36-year-old got in the man’s face and called him a “f***ing idiot” on 16 November last year, before uttering the same phrase to him two days later again at the Clickimin.
Lerwick Sheriff Court heard on Wednesday that on the second occasion the worker went to the reception to ask them to report Gorman to the police, with Gorman following and telling the man: “You’re going to get hit someday”.
And when Gorman was arrested by police he told them: “Ten years ago I would have f***ing smashed him”.
He admitted to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, behaving aggressively and uttering threats to the man.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said the offence was racially aggravated, which Sheriff Ian Cruickshank questioned.
Mackenzie said that though Gorman had not said anything in relation to the complainer’s race, he felt he had targeted the man out of the other workers.
However Sheriff Cruickshank did not agree, and said he felt there had been no racial element to the offence.
Defence agent Tommy Allan said Gorman had actually been eating his food at the tables situated around the outside of the café at the Clickimin, and felt “entitled” to do so.
Gorman “accepts the language he used wasn’t helpful”.
The sheriff fined Gorman £600.
A MAN who stole car keys from under an elderly woman’s plant pot and crashed her vehicle into a wall has had his sentence deferred.
Lee Hamilton, from Lerwick’s Sandveien, was only traced to the accident after his DNA was found on an airbag at the scene.
The 29-year-old had initially denied being involved, but admitted to stealing the car, driving without insurance and failing to report the accident at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday.
Hamilton stole the car after taking the keys from underneath a plant pot outside the woman’s home on either Christmas Day or Boxing Day morning in 2023.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said the woman did not know Hamilton, but he must have learned where she kept her keys.
Police became aware of the theft on Boxing Day morning when the car was found in Goodlad Crescent, where it had crashed into a wall and been “abandoned”.
Significant damage – around £1,300 worth – was caused to the wall, and the car was found with the airbags deployed.
Officers suspected Hamilton was the culprit, but he “denied all knowledge” of the incident when questioned.
However his DNA was eventually confirmed to be on the airbag, with Mackenzie adding Hamilton “clearly has accepted responsibility now”.
He said he was not sure of how costly the damage was to the car.
Solicitor Tommy Allan, defending Hamilton, said his client had not been in any legal difficulties since.
Sheriff Ian Cruickshank decided to defer sentencing on Hamilton for one week for the court to find out how much the repairs to the stolen car were.
A DRINK-DRIVER who tried to get to his new partner’s house while almost twice the legal limit has been banned from the road.
Twenty one year old Liam Smith, from Quendale, drove for around 45 minutes on roads stretching from Virkie to Aith on 25 October last year before being stopped by police.
The manner of Smith’s driving had been flagged up by a concerned member of the public, Lerwick Sheriff Court heard on Wednesday.
When stopped, officers found Smith had 124 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of urine, with the legal limit being 67 microgrammes.
Defence agent Tommy Allan said Smith, a self-employed crofter, had been undergoing a difficult period following a break-up, the death of a close friend and an injury he had sustained.
He made the decision to drive after drinking, Allan said, and had taken the car to his new partner’s house.
Sheriff Ian Cruickshank fined Smith £800 and banned him from driving for a year.
He can reduce that by three months if he takes the drink-driver rehabilitation course.
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