Essex police officer posed as teen to get images of children
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Press and Journal
2 hours ago
- Press and Journal
'That's not a knife': Sword-wielding man's Crocodile Dundee threat to neighbour
A man has appeared in court after he quoted from the comedy Crocodile Dundee while threatening someone with a sword. Darren Morrison's neighbour had brandished a kitchen knife at him following an altercation over noise, so he responded by fetching a replica sword from his own home. He then brandished the claymore-style weapon at the woman – itself a replica from 1986's sci-fi film Highlander – and quoted from the Paul Hogan hit, telling her: 'That's not a knife…' Morrison, 51, appeared at Tain Sheriff Court to admit a single charge of threatening behaviour in relation to the incident on July 3 of this year. Fiscal depute Adelle Gray told the court that, at around 9.30pm on that date, Morrison and his wife had been trying to put their grandchildren to bed at an address in Westford, Alness. His neighbour was 'playing her music loud' and when asked to turn it down in a Facebook message, she responded by telling them to 'f*** off'. An altercation between those at the house and the neighbour followed, during which the woman slammed doors while holding a speaker. She then grabbed a purple-handed bread knife and began to wave it, shouting: 'I'll take you all – come on then.' Morrison's wife shouted: 'She has got a knife,' prompting him to go inside his own house and grab a replica sword, which was mounted on the wall. He then returned to the garden and stated, 'That's not a knife…' brandishing the sword in her direction. Solicitor Patrick O'Dea, for Morrison, told Sheriff Mark Lindsay, that his client had been referencing Crocodile Dundee with his comment and had 'not been trying to terrify' the woman in question. Following this revelation, the sheriff questioned whether the scene appeared in the original film or its 1988 sequel, noting 'It's where he is in New York.' The famous scene appears in the first film, not the Australia-based sequel. Mr O'Dea told the court that Morrison – a 'genuine first offender' – was simply 'trying to make a ridiculous situation more ridiculous'. He said: 'He bitterly regrets reacting to the complainer's bread knife – he now reflects on it as ridiculous.' Mr O'Dea explained to the court that the 'huge weapon' wielded by his client was a replica of a prop from the 1986 Highlander movie and was not a real sword. Hearing this, Sheriff Lindsay ordered the forfeiture of the replica sword and deferred sentence on Morrison for three months to allow him to demonstrate good behaviour.
Press and Journal
5 hours ago
- Press and Journal
Aberdeen swim coach sentenced for sending child sexual image
A former swim coach from Aberdeen will undertake hundreds of hours of unpaid work after he sent a child an image of his penis. Joel Valentine, 27, appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Friday to be sentenced for sending a sexually explicit picture to a 15-year-old boy, whom he knew through swimming, in November 2023. The court had previously been told that Valentine – the former owner of the Aberdeen Swimming Academy – sent the picture to the teenager on Snapchat after the boy had innocently inquired who was going to win the school's 'assistant of the year' prize. Sheriff Morag McLaughlin branded the crime as 'entirely inexplicable' and handed Valentine 200 hours of unpaid work. Defence solicitor Jenny Logan, representing Valentine during the case, said her client had now begun attending counselling sessions to deal with alcohol issues in his personal life. Noting a background report on the former swimming instructor, which she claimed was 'fairly positive', Ms Logan said the offence was 'borne through alcohol misuse'. 'He accepts that,' she added. 'He has also been struggling with his mental health.' Sheriff McLaughlin, addressing Valentine directly, said she was given 'some comfort' that social workers did not deem him a high enough risk for direct intervention. Ordering him to complete unpaid work in place of such an order, she said: 'This is otherwise, to me, an entirely inexplicable offence and you will benefit from doing some work with social work around everything that has caused you to commit that offence to make sure nothing similar happens again.' He will have one year to complete the hours. Valentine will also fall under the supervision of social workers for the next 18 months and be subject to the sexual offenders notification requirements during that period. At the case's last calling in July, fiscal depute Stephanie Cardow told the court Valentine struck up a conversation with his underage victim on the evening of November 5. The boy was invited to a party by Valentine, which he declined, before asking him who would win a prize at the coach's swimming school. In reply, Valentine, of Rennie's Wynd, ordered the boy to carry out a sex act and then forwarded him a picture of his penis. The boy responded to Valentine, stating: 'You're an actual weirdo.' In reply, Valentine sent a further message asking: 'You gay? You gay?' The boy then blocked Valentine on Snapchat before he was messaged again via Instagram. Valentine claimed the image was a 'stock image' that had been sent to him from another party. The teenager reported the incident to the police.
The Courier
5 hours ago
- The Courier
Retired Perthshire officer still awaiting money amid police pension dispute
A retired Perthshire police officer says he is still awaiting money owed to him in a long-running dispute over pensions. Brian Duncan, 55, from Bridge of Earn, served in the Perth and Kinross area for 27 years. He is one of hundreds of retired officers across Scotland who say they have yet to receive pension payments due to them. A campaign has been launched in frustration at ongoing delays and poor communication from the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA). The dispute dates back to 2015, when the police pension scheme moved from the '1987 Scheme' to the CARE (career average revalued earnings) scheme, which bases pensions on average earnings throughout a career. The 1987 Scheme allowed officers to retire with an immediate pension after 30 years of service, or at age 55 with any length of service. This applied to officers who joined before April 6 2006, and was closed to active members on March 31 2022. Brian, who retired in 2021, told The Courier he had planned his retirement before 'the carpet was ripped from under our feet'. 'The CARE scheme is much worse than the 1987 one,' he said. 'We couldn't possibly know or plan for that change. When we joined, you knew after 30 years, that was going to be our pension. 'They were essentially asking people to work an extra seven years in some cases because of their age.' In 2018, an age discrimination case was brought to the Court of Appeal and won. The ruling – known as the McCloud Judgment – forced the UK Government to implement changes across all public service pension schemes. The amount owed to each retired officer depends on when they joined the force and how many years they served. Brian added: 'The pensions were changed and now we're finally getting put back to where we should've been. 'The SPPA has now missed seven deadlines, and the lack of communication has just been atrocious. 'We've all got together on Facebook and decided to, en masse, put our feelings in writing that this can't go on. 'They're now saying that it's looking like October or December before this gets done – we were promised it would be March. 'We were meant to be first – the people in ill-health retiral, but now we're very much at the back of the queue. 'They've had four years to prepare, yet had no staffing or computer systems in place until the very last minute.' Brian says the retired officers organisation has submitted a letter of no confidence to the SPPA arguing that hundreds of retirees in Scotland have been 'utterly cut adrift'. He said the time it is taking for the SPPA to pay the officers back is adding to the interest that will be owed. A spokesperson for the SPPA said: 'The SPPA is unable to comment on individual cases. 'However, we acknowledge the frustrations of retired police scheme members who have not yet received their statements and have apologised directly to those affected for the delay. 'The SPPA has made significant progress in delivery for the police pension scheme, where 84 per cent of immediate choice remediable service statements have been issued to date, as well as 99 per cent of deferred choice statements. 'This is a similar delivery position to most other police public sector administrators in the UK. 'Despite this progress, we recently took the difficult decision, in accordance with legislation, to extend the target dates for delivery for the remaining 16 per cent. 'The majority of statements are expected by the end of October and those remaining by the end of 2025. 'We continue to dedicate our resources to resolving the remaining 16 per cent of outstanding cases not yet produced. 'These are affected by a range of complex factors and require in-depth technical knowledge to ensure each one is completed accurately. 'The SPPA continues to work diligently and on a daily basis to ensure these cases are processed as quickly as possible and that accurate RSS are provided so that retired members already receiving pension payments can receive the accurate amounts due.'
