News / Court round up
Bus abuse
A TEENAGER from Fife who hurled abuse at a bus driver and a young passenger on a journey from Lerwick to Brae must wait four weeks to be sentenced.
Nineteen year old Ryan Barker, who lives at 20 Braewick Road, Lerwick, pled guilty to a racially aggravated breach of the peace at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Thursday.
The court heard Barker boarded a bus on 17 April and swore at the driver for no reason, then head butted windows and threatened a 16 year old passenger with raised fists before being thrown off the bus after he swore at the driver for being English.
Defence agent Tommy Allan said Barker suffered from depression following a serious head injury and sometimes dealt with it by drinking alcohol.
Hiding heroin
Brae man Ebrahim Hassan must wait until the end of the month to find out if he will be sent to jail for possessing £60 worth of heroin and trying to hide it from the police.
When police stopped Hassan, of 5 Gossaford, on Lerwick’s Old North Road on 26 March they saw him drop a package from his hand and try to grind it into the ground.
Defence agent Tommy Allan said it was “ a ham-fisted attempt to get out of a situation” after Hassan panicked.
He said at the time Hassan had relapsed into drug taking, but he had since moved on and was hoping to find work on the UK mainland.
Sheriff Mann said Hassan’s criminal record meant he could face a jail sentence, but said he was prepared to look into alternatives to custody and called for background reports.
More heroin…
SELF employed labourer Richard Johnson was fined £200 after he was caught with £35 worth of heroin when police stopped him on the main A970 at Tingwall on 15 October last year.
Johnson, of 4 Grindwell Road, Brae, was also ordered to carry out 50 hours of community service and banned from driving for six months after he admitted stealing a pair of shoes, two sets of headphones and six SIM cards from the Tesco supermarket on 20 June.
The 37 year old was also banned from driving for six months and ordered to carry out a further 50 hours of unpaid work for driving that day on Lerwick’s South Road and Kantersted Road without insurance.
Defence agent Tommy Allan said Johnson had been going through a difficult time financially when he carried out the shoplifting.
And more heroin
LERWICK fishworker Steven Priest was fined £500 after he admitted being in possession of £100 worth of heroin when police raided his home at 75 Nederdale on 15 November last year.
Defence agent Tommy Allan said Priest had been struggling to get back into society after a period in jail, but had sorted himself out since then and managed to “get his life back on track”.
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