Court / Court round-up 19 January 2023

A LERWICK man who was found with nine wraps of heroin and struggled violently with police officers when they tried to search them has avoided a jail term.

Simon Smith, of the town’s Water Lane, appeared for sentencing at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to two charges in early November.s

Fifty year old Smith was stopped by police officers after they saw him in suspicious circumstances on King Harald Street on 14 April.

But before they could speak to him, he ran away, and when police officers managed to catch up with him again he struggled violently with them – ending up with one officer sustaining a hand injury.

In court on Thursday, defence solicitor Gregor Kelly said his client was struggling with clearing his drug addiction but has been holding a job for a number of years.

He suggested that community disposal would be of benefit for his client as this would allow him to interact with relevant agencies.

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Sheriff Ian Cruickshank sentenced Smith to 160 hours of unpaid work and put him under supervision for a year, all part of a community payback order imposed as an alternative to a custodial sentence.

A YOUNG council employee has been fined £300 at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Thursday after admitted careless driving while adjusting a Satnav app on his phone.

The court heard that police spotted 20-year-old Stuart Edwards being distracted while driving on Holmsgarth Road on 11 July last year.

Defence solicitor Gregor Kelly said his client, from Dunrossness, was “temporarily distracted” when the Satnav “kicked in”.

He pleaded for leniency as his client was in danger of losing his driving license which he needed for his work with the SIC.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank fined Edwards £300 and limited the number of penalty points to three.

RESIDUE of heroin found in a Lerwick house cost a man £300 when his case called at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Thursday.

Nigel Scott, of Sandveien, pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing the class A drug while on bail.

Defence solicitor Gregor Kelly told the court that all drug activity had cleared the house, but when a residue of heroin was found near the couch, Scott accepted it was his.

Fining the 40-year-old £300 plus a £20 victim surcharge, Sheriff Ian Cruickshank said he accepted that the trace element had no value.