Court / Court round-up 12 June

A MAN who embezzled almost £2,000 from the Walls Swimming Pool association has had a warrant issued for his arrest after again failing to appear at court.

Regan Peggs, 45, had been due to appear at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday after failing to show up a week previous.

He texted solicitor Tommy Allan during the hearing to say he had thought his court date was a week later.

However on Wednesday Peggs, of Walls, again failed to show up, with Allan saying this time he had texted him to say he had been ill all night.

Peggs admitted last month to embezzling £1,966.01 from the Walls Swimming Pool committee while serving as its treasurer between 1 December 2022 and 28 March 2024.

Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie pointed out Peggs had been in court when he was told he had to appear on 4 June.

Mackenzie said it was “difficult to avoid the conclusion” that Peggs was “deliberately avoiding coming to court”.

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He called for the court to issue a warrant for his apprehension.

Allan however said there “may well be genuine reasons” why he was not able to attend.

Asked by the sheriff if Peggs had co-operated fully, Allan said there had been “some contact with him”.

However Sheriff Ian Cruickshank decided after “looking at the overall history” of the case to issue a warrant for his arrest.

A KALLINESS man threatened a neighbour with a “pointed metal implement” during a dispute over a cat.

Nathan Robertson, 28, also admitting to punching out the rear window of the complainer’s van during the dispute outside his home on 14 February 2025.

Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said there was an ongoing neighbourly dispute between the two men.

The complainer returned home at midday to feed his cats and was told by his partner that one was at Robertson’s house, and that she wanted it back.

“Words were exchanged” on Robertson’s door step between the two men, which led Robertson to go inside and get a “pointed metal implement”.

Mobile phone footage captured part of the incident, and showed Robertson “clearly” approaching the man carrying and brandishing it “in the manner that one would carry a weapon”, Mackenzie said.

Robertson’s partner took it off him, but that did not stop him from then punching the rear window out of the man’s van.

Mackenzie said the damage was estimated to be “in the hundreds of pounds”.

Defence agent Gregor Kelly decided to reserve his mitigation until background reports are provided by social work.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank deferred sentencing until 9 July.

A FISHERMAN who failed to pay any cash towards total fines of £3,800 was warned this week he will go to jail unless he starts immediately.

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Paul Forrest, 33, had been fined £3,000 in June 2021 for failing to submit forms relating to landing declarations while skipper of the Lerwick-registered Braveheart.

And in October 2024, Forrest was fined another £800 for driving while unfit through drink or drugs after coming off the road on 14 January.

However Lerwick Sheriff Court heard on Forrest had failed to pay back any of the money towards the two fines.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said the lifestyle of his client had been “chaotic”, adding “and so has his finances”.

Forrest was now living in Dundee, he said, and had found steady employment on a fishing boat operating out of Wick.

He had also found a new partner who “manages his finances for him”.

Forrest was willing to offer a first payment of £350 on Wednesday, which he would be willing to pay each month from then on, Allan added.

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Sheriff Ian Cruickshank said he was not sure if Forrest had been in the court when Stuart Hill was jailed for similarly refusing to pay the fine, but said the court did not kindly on people who did not pay when asked to do so.

He said the alternative would be a custodial sentence, and told Forrest he could jail him for three months for non-payment.

The sheriff ordered Forrest to make the £350 payment on Wednesday and to continue to pay each month.

“Hopefully you will understand the consequences that will come about from failing to pay,” he added.

A MAN from Irvine has been ordered not to drink for the duration of his holiday after allegedly punching a family member this week.

Steven Mays pleaded not guilty to assaulting the man by punching him in the head, causing him to fall the ground, on Tuesday.

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The 49-year-old appeared from custody on Wednesday, where procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie asked for Mays to be ordered to leave Shetland by Thursday night.

The fiscal also requested Mays be told not to approach or contact the complainer by any means.

However defence agent Tommy Allan said that would be difficult as Mays was up in Shetland on holiday with his mother, and they were visiting the complainer.

Mays and his mother were booked to take their car back on the freight ferry on Sunday night, and Allan said he would be “surprised” if Mays was able to get the car off island before then.

Mackenzie said that the potential for further disorder between Mays and the complainer was “high” because of a “family dispute”.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank asked Allan if Mays would agree not to drink alcohol on or before Sunday, which he agreed to.

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Mays was ordered to leave Shetland by midnight on Sunday 15 June, and to submit to any breath tests from police as and when required.

A CUNNINGSBURGH man has been banned from the road after being caught narrowly over the drink-driving limit in October.

Police stopped Stuart Farmer, 31, on Lerwick’s Knab Road at around 6.30pm on 24 October last year during a routine check.

He was found to have 70 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of urine, with the limit being 67 microgrammes.

Farmer was also found to be driving without insurance.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said Farmer had drunk a “couple of tins of beer” earlier in the day and was “fully in the belief he would be under the limit”.

It was an oversight that Farmer was not insured to drive the vehicle, which was not his but belonged to a family member, at the time Allan added.

Farmer had co-operated fully with police and offered an early guilty plea, the solicitor said.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank fined Farmer £500 and banned him from driving for 12 months, which can be discounted to nine months if he completes the drink-driving rehabilitation course.