A man has been charged by police with allegedly stealing coins from a fountain in Dundee’s City Square.

Radions Hrapcenkovs, 35, of no fixed abode, was also allegedly found with a magnet attached to a wire and a host of other implements.

It is claimed that this inferred that he was planning to commit thefts in the area.

Hrapcenkovs appeared in private at the city’s sheriff court.

He made no plea or declaration in relation to three charges on petition.

He is charged with finding a quantity of coins and stealing them without attempting to find the true owner, at City Square, on Tuesday.

He is further charged with having a magnet on a wire, five screwdrivers, scissors, two spanners and a knife in his possession, inferring that he had committed theft or that he intended to commit theft, at Commercial Street, on the same date.

It’s also claimed that he was unable to demonstrate the tools were not for committing theft.

He is also charged with having a knife in a public place without reasonable excuse or lawful authority, at the same location and on the same date.

The case was continued for further inquires and Hrapcenkovs was remanded meantime.

A Police Scotland spokeswoman confirmed that a 35-year-old man has been charged and that a report had been sent to the procurator fiscal.

There are two separate fountains located in City Square and people throw loose change into them.

The coins that amass in the fountains’ pools are periodically cleared by Dundee City Council.

After the monies have been collected, the local authority then distributes the funds to a number of charitable organisations around the city.

Lord Provost Bob Duncan said he hadn’t been aware of the alleged incident but was surprised at the claims.

He said that all of the coins retrieved from the pool are donated to worthwhile causes after being cleaned.

He added: “The money that is collected in the fountains doesn’t go into council funds.

“It is donated directly to charities around the city.

“All the money collected there is donated to registered charities who really need it to do their work — as with all the charitable contributions that Dundee City Council makes.”

A man has been charged following an incident in Dundee yesterday.

Officers were seen on the city’s Benvie Road and Cleghorn Street following an alleged disturbance.

Eyewitnesses described seeing a large police presence in the area at about 12.10pm.

A 28-year-old man is due to appear at Dundee Sheriff Court today.

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: “A 28-year-old man is due to appear in court today in connection with possession of a knife and a breach of the peace.”

A Dundee man has been convicted of attempting to murder a friend in an unprovoked attack.

John McGrandle, 42, pushed his victim David Kettles down a flight of stairs and then plunged him in the body with a knife.

But, in court he tried to make out Mr Kettles was the aggressor. He claimed that he had slept with Mr Kettle’s girlfriend Susan Robertson two months earlier and because of this 45-year-old David Kettles went for him with a knife.

When asked how Mr Kettles came by the stab injury to his chest, McGrandle said: “I don’t know. He could only have injured himself.”

But a jury at the High Court in Glasgow did not believe him and convicted him of a murder bid in the common close at 70 Court Street, Dundee, on November 18, 2015.

He was also found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice by hiding the knife in a hedge in Arkley Terrace and hiding in a wardrobe at hi s family home at Brantwood Avenue to avoid arrest.

Earlier, Mr Kettles told the High Court in Glasgow he was visiting his girlfriend at her flat and popped out to get some bread.

When he returned he found McGrandle standing at the secure door entry system trying to get into the building.

He said that McGrandle had a dispute with Robert Ramsay – known as Rab – who lived in the same block of flats and wanted to speak to him.

The court was told that inside the building Mr Ramsay and McGrandle argued, and Mr Kettles said: “I just wanted to calm it down. I let Mr Ramsay into my girlfriend’s flat because I thought he and John were going to start fighting.”

This left Mr Kettles and McGrandle standing in the landing.

Mr Kettles said: “I asked him to leave. He cuddled me and said alright and then pushed me downstairs.”

He told the jury he thought that McGrandle had punched him, but added: “When the blood started coming out I realised I had been stabbed and I went into shock.”

Mr Kettles was asked if he had seen a knife and replied: “It was definitely a knife. I saw the glint. He was taking his anger out on me. It was meant for Rab.”

He denied a suggestion by Mr Renucci that he had grabbed the knife from the kitchen and stabbed himself after falling downstairs, saying: “I’ve never carried a knife or used a knife. I’m not a violent person.”

Mr Renucci said: “You found out that Mr McGrandle had slept with your girlfriend two months earlier,” and Mr Kettles replied: “Not at all my relationship is solid. She wouldn’t sleep with that.

“He’s been talking about that saying ‘I’m going to use that as my defence. ‘I slept with his girlfriend.’ It’s rubbish.”

At the end of the Crown case McGrandle admitted charges of assaulting a PC by punching her on the throat and resisting arrest.

Judge Sean Murphy QC deferred sentence on McGrandle, who has previous convictions for assault and carrying a weapon, until June 27 for background reports.

He is remanded in Perth Prison.

A 34-YEAR-OLD man has died suddenly of a suspected drugs overdose in a Dundee flat.

The man, named locally as Thomas Zielinski, passed away in the flat he shared with his mum on Clepington Road.

It is understood Mr Zielinski was at his home with another male when he died.

Police today confirmed there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said he heard doors being banged in the common close shortly before there was a knock on his own door.

He explained: “A man came to my door and asked to borrow my mobile to phone an ambulance because he didn’t have one.

“I went to the flat with him while he was using my phone and saw Thomas was dead.

“He was just sitting on the sofa.

“I don’t know what happened, I didn’t see anything which would suggest anything untoward happened to him.”

Officers arrived shortly after receiving a call.

Police were in attendance at the property until midday on Sunday.

A nearby resident said: “There was a police car and van parked right across the road from my flat.

“I saw them walking back and forward from the van to the flat carrying boxes. I also saw them put something into a bag but couldn’t see what it was.

“Some of them had masks on their faces and they were spraying their shoes, as if they were disinfecting them.

“I didn’t know what it was all about at the time.”

Another witness said: “I passed on Saturday and saw about five or six officers coming out of the block and going into a van.

“It looked like something had happened in one of the flats.

“I thought it must have been serious given how many officers there were.”

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said today: “We attended at an address on Clepington Road, Dundee, on Saturday May 28 following the sudden death of a 34-year-old man.

“There are no suspicious circumstances and a report has been submitted to the procurator fiscal.”

A22-YEAR-OLD man allegedly hit a woman on the face with a glass and held a knife to her throat.

Sean Burnett, a prisoner at Perth, also allegedly brandished a knife and a mallet at Samantha Poynter while behaving in an aggressive manner.

Burnett will stand trial at Dundee Sheriff Court charged with assault and aggressive behaviour.

He denies assaulting Samantha Poynter by grabbing her by the clothing, pushing her on the body and holding a knife against her throat.

And he denies striking Ms Poynter on the face with a glass tumbler during the same incident, to her severe injury, permanent disfigurement and impairment.

The assault allegedly took place at a property on Lyon Street, Dundee, on February 12 or 13.

Burnett also denies a second charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, on the same date and at the same location.

He allegedly committed this offence by punching walls, shouting, swearing and brandishing a knife and a mallet at Ms Poynter.

And he denies a third charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by making threats of violence towards Samantha Poynter, at Perth Prison, between March 3 and 17.

Trial for all three charges takes place on June 6.

A 62-year-old man allegedly carried out a protest at a Dundee hospital which caused a doctor fear and alarm.

James Kelly, of Brodlie Drive, Dalry, Ayrshire, appeared in private at Dundee Sheriff Court.

He made no plea or declaration in relation to one charge on petition.

Kelly is charged with engaging in a course of conduct which caused Brodie Paterson fear and alarm by repeatedly attending at Ninewells Hospital.

He is accused of having carried out a protest and repeatedly displayed a board there which detailed information relating to the medical care of Kelly’s late wife.

The board also allegedly included derogatory remarks in relation to Brodie Paterson.

The offence allegedly took place between Wednesday September 9 and Thursday 24 last year, at Ninewells Hospital.

The case was continued for further investigation.

A RAPIST and road killer who spent 12 years in jail after a brutal murder bid that left his victim in a “vegetative state” has died after an incident in prison.

George Cameron – who racked up convictions for causing death by reckless driving, attempted murder and rape – hung himself at Perth Prison last Friday, sources said.

He was in intensive care at Perth Royal Infirmary until he died on Sunday evening.

It is understood Cameron had appeared in court on Friday on petition, where he was fully committed and remanded in custody on allegations he had breached a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

Today the Scottish Prison Service said they couldn’t comment on his death until it was confirmed next of kin had been informed.

Cameron, 36, was jailed for 12 years in 2002 after he brutally attacked a 23-year-old mother in Dundee.

The woman – who a court heard was consigned to a “living death” – was left with horrific brain damage, cannot speak or feed herself and is in a “highly vegetative state”.

Cameron was released in 2010 after two-thirds of his sentence but was recalled to jail just weeks later after flouting licence conditions.

His 12-year term finished on March 14 2014 – with police serving a sexual offences prevention order (SOPO) on him before his release.

That banned him from having any contact with women and forced him to declare any “friendships or social relationships” with women he met.

However, cops were tipped off in August last year that he was in a “social relationship” with a woman.

She subsequently had her daughter taken from her care because of her friendship with Cameron.

Dundee Sheriff Court heard that when officers turned up at his flat in Dundee Cameron pulled out a knife and said he was going to “cut his throat out”.

Fiscal depute Vicki Bell told the court: “He said he had never breached his order then lifted up a large black handled kitchen knife.

“He shouted ‘I’m not going back to jail, get out of my ******* house’.

“He walked towards them with the knife at his throat.”

The thug was jailed for 41 weeks for that offence – and was released late last year.

Cameron was also previously jailed for five years in prison for causing death by reckless driving before being given six years at Reading Crown Court in 1998 for rape.

And in July 2002 he was given the 12-year sentence at Edinburgh High Court for attempted murder.

In the 2002 attempted murder case Cameron repeatedly punched and kicked his victim and locked his arm around her neck before throwing her down some stairs.

The groaning woman was found badly injured by late night revellers and was not expected to survive.

The 23-year-old mother suffered brain damage, the High Court in Edinburgh heard.

Lord Dawson told Cameron: “This was a brutal, unwarranted attack on a young woman.

“Having attacked her, you left her for dead and that is, to all intents and purposes, what she is.”

Cameron visited a pub and a nightclub and was captured on city centre CCTV walking towards the area of Foundry Lane.

He was seen to meet up with the woman and head into the lane. Patrons from a nightclub later found her lying at the bottom of stairs after being alerted by her groaning.

Eilish Angiolini, prosecuting at the original case, said: “At that point she was not expected to survive. Police believed they were dealing with a homicide.”

The victim was bleeding heavily and had a fractured skull, nose and cheekbone and suffered a brain injury.

She was also showing signs of asphyxiation and had sustained hypothermia.

Surgeons operated immediately on her to relieve pressure in her skull and to help her breathe more easily.

She has shown very little improvement in her condition since the murder bid.

The prosecutor added: “The prognosis could be described as grim.”

A STALKER who threatened to stab a love rival before staking out his ex-partner’s house over night after threatening to “ruin her life” was today jailed for almost two years.

Fraser Watt flipped when he barged in to Rebecca Williams’ Dundee home and found her “associate” John Munday inside.

Former offshore worker Watt screamed at him to “get out” – before storming into the kitchen to find a knife and stating: “I’m going to put this right through you.”

Mr Munday fled before Miss Williams attempted to call police – only for Watt to pull out the phone’s cord when she was connected to the control room.

Watt then took her mobile phone and left in his car – before turning up outside in his motor and texting her that he was watching.

Fiscal depute Vicki Bell told Dundee Sheriff Court: “At first he sat for five minutes before driving off.

“The complainer phoned him to establish why he was there. He said it was his intention to ruin her life.

“At 9.39pm she received a text on an old mobile saying ‘are you in the house yourself – are you saying that’.

“They engaged in a text conversation where he repeatedly asked to come in or he would stay outside all night.

“She repeatedly asked him to leave her alone as she was fearful of his actions. He said he intended to make her life a misery.

“The next day she received a further text saying he was still outside and he was freezing. She didn’t respond.

“At 6pm he asked her to watch his car as in a safe place. He then went to the nearby police office and was detained.”

Watt, 44, a prisoner at Perth, pleaded guilty on indictment to a charge of stalking committed between February 19 and February 22 this year.

Defence solicitor Billy Rennie said: “He knew nothing of the other relationship.

“He went there initially to see her in the way he often had – he thought there was still some form of relationship.”

Sheriff Alastair Brown jailed Watt for 22 months and imposed a non-harassment order banning him from approaching or contacting his victim for the next 10 years.

He said: “You repeatedly threatened to stab Mr Munday. You went to the kitchen to look for a knife.

“This set of circumstances often leads to very serious injury and sometimes death.

“Secondly, you threatened to do what you could to ruin this lady’s life.

“I regard this as a very serious matter for which nothing other than a prison sentence is possibly appropriate.”

A MAN who pointed an air rifle at a teenager who parked in his space was today placed on a curfew for eight months.

Andrew Colvin, 40, of Albert Street, admitted pointing a gun at Jayne Hudson and Alexander McGowan.

Dundee Sheriff Court heard that Miss Hudson, 19, had manoeuvred into a bay at a private car park on Whalers Close last May 13.

Moments later, Colvin shouted that he had paid for the space and demanded she move her car, before calling her offensive names and swearing at her.

Colvin then went into his flat. The driver’s partner Mr McGowan, 25 – who had got out of Miss Hudson’s car when she parked and went to a shop – returned and the couple got ready to leave the car park.

Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson said: “They saw the accused at a window next to the balcony holding an air rifle and pointing it towards Miss Hudson and her vehicle.

“He was waving the gun about and the witnesses formed the impression he was doing so to intimidate them.

“They were extremely frightened and felt threatened, so phoned the police.”

Sheriff Carmichael said: “The gun was not loaded but they would not have known that.”

He placed Colvin on a restriction of liberty order, confining him to his home address between 7pm and 7am daily.

A FATHER ran a massive “commercial” cannabis farm in the loft above his four children’s bedrooms in Dundee.

Derek Adam – who was previously jailed for a year after his rottweilers horrifically savaged a 10-year-old girl – had converted his council house into a sophisticated production facility.

He had converted the loft into a growing area and changed a cupboard into an access point to the cultivation – with sophisticated equipment such as light reflectors, transformers and thermometers stashed throughout the house.

Incredibly, Adam had also converted his new wife’s identical house in the same street into an identical hash farm set up.

Officers who raided Adam’s house found 154 plants in the early stages of growth – with a potential street value of up to £24,640 – though no plants were growing at the time at his wife’s home.

Fiscal depute Vicki Bell told Dundee Sheriff Court: “The house was found to contain a vast, established area for cultivating cannabis.

“The cupboard in the front bedroom had been converted to allow access to the loft by ladder.

“During the search of the second house a large amount of cultivation equipment with a similar setup in the loft was also found.”

Adam, 43, of Alloway Terrace, Dundee, pleaded guilty on indictment to a charge of producing cannabis at two addresses in Alloway Terrace between May 5 2013 and August 9 2014.

His step-son, Jake Thomson, 26, also of Alloway Terrace, Dundee, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine between the same dates – an offence detected during the same raid.

The court was told the cocaine found in his room had a street value of between £950 and £1900.

Ian Houston, defending Adam, said: “He has full custody of the four children from a previous marriage, and he is now re-married.

“His new wife lives on the same street, he stays at the locus with the four children.

“He has been discharging his parental duties well.”

Sheriff Alastair Brown interjected: “But he’s got a commercial cannabis cultivation in the loft – one which the English guidelines suggest attracts a starting point of four years’ custody.”

Mr Houston added: “He appreciates he faces custody.”

George Donnelly, for Thomson, added: “He lacks a serious criminal record – there are tempering factors in relation to his case.”

Sheriff Alastair Brown deferred sentence until later this month for social work background reports and remanded both men in custody meantime.

He said: “In one case there’s a very deliberate cultivation of a substantial amount of cannabis which is difficult not to regard as commercial.

“In the other, there is dealing in a class A drug.

“Both cases are likely to attract a significant custodial sentence.

“That being so, you will both be remanded in custody.

In January 2012 Adam was jailed for a year after his rottweilers savagely attacked a 10-year-old girl, leaving her horrifically scarred.

Adam’s three rottweilers – adults Fat Boy and Pretty Girl and puppy Rocky – escaped from his ex-partner Sarah Kerr’s home in Dundee’s Linton Road in August last year.

They stalked through nearby streets before Fat Boy and Pretty girl attacked a German Shepherd as it was walked by its owner Sean Gaffney.

The dogs then came across the schoolgirl – who cannot be named for legal reasons – in nearby Dryburgh Street as she cycled towards a relative’s house.

The girl was seen smiling at Rocky before being dragged from her bike into the middle of the road.

The two adult dogs then horrifically mauled her – biting her face, head, neck, arms and legs.

A sheriff blasted Adam at his sentencing hearing in the case – saying he had the animals to “make up for his inadequacies” and had “shown disregard for the law”.

A teenager who had sex with three different children was placed under supervision at Dundee Sheriff Court.

Kyle Leonard, 19, a prisoner at Perth, was also ordered to carry out 210 hours of unpaid work.

Leonard admitted having sex with one child on various occasions between February 1 2013 and December 21  2013, at a property in Dundee.

He also admitted having sex with a second child between August 1 2013 and May 1 2014, at a different property in Dundee.

And he admitted having sex with a third child between April 1 2014 and May 31 2014, at a third property in Dundee.

The court heard he was aged 16 and 17 at the time of the offences.

Sheriff Drummond said: “You were young when you committed these offences but so were the complainers.

“It’s a relatively serious matter considering their ages and the number of offences.”

Leonard was also placed on a mentoring for men programme.

A DRUNKEN thug who punched a pub window, cutting a barmaid’s eyeball, was today jailed.

Anthony Deans, 39, of Erskine Street, was locked up for 28 months at Dundee Sheriff Court and placed on a one year supervised release order.

The court heard Deans carried out the attack at the Bush Bar, Seagate, after he was refused alcohol for being “too drunk”.

Barmaid Chelsea Wolecki refused to serve him alcohol and repeatedly asked Deans to leave on February 1 but he kept coming back.

He then, in the pub, repeatedly punched a customer, Raymond Bruce, on the face.

And he punched a pane of glass in the pub’s door, causing it to smash in the direction of Ms Wolecki.

Fiscal depute Saima Racheed said: “She tried to protect herself but she was hit by glass and blood was seen to come from her face.”

Police were called and Deans was later traced at his home.

He challenged police to a fight then punched one officer on the nose. He then headbutted another officer and lashed out at a third officer before he was restrained.

Deans admitted assaulting Raymond Bruce by repeatedly punching him on the face at Bush Bar on February 1 while he was on bail.

He further admitted assaulting Chelsea Wolecki by punching a glass window, which smashed, and glass struck her on the face, to her injury and disfigurement, at the same location on the same date.

Deans further admitted assaulting three police officers at Erskine Street on February 2.

Solicitor Scott Norrie, defending, said: “He’s had time to reflect on his issues.”

In a separate case, Deans admitted assaulting his partner Debbie Patterson by repeatedly striking her on the head, seizing her by the hair and pushing her against the wall, all to her injury, at Session Street, on December 4 last year.

A SERVING police officer has appeared in court charged with stalking a woman — at locations including Dundee’s police headquarters.

Simon Donaldson, 39, allegedly kept tabs on the woman for a period of five years — monitoring her movements and demanding to know where she was.

During that time he also allegedly arranged to meet the woman’s partner and allegedly showed him an old video of himself and the woman engaging in a sex act.

Donaldson — whose address was given to the court as care of police headquarters, West Bell Street — allegedly repeatedly and persistently phoned the woman and repeatedly asked her whereabouts and movements.

He also allegedly repeatedly approached, phoned and contacted the woman’s parents and demanded to know her whereabouts and movements from them.

Donaldson also allegedly repeatedly and persistently attended at the woman’s home address and repeatedly drove by her house.

He is also alleged to have seized hold of her, threatened her, shouted at her and attempted to access her email account.

And, on one occasion in 2011, he allegedly arranged to meet her partner and pretended to him that he was in a relationship with the woman.

Donaldson then allegedly showed the man an older video of the woman and himself engaging in a sex act.

At Dundee Sheriff Court, Donaldson denied a charge of engaging in a course of conduct which caused the woman fear and alarm.

The offence is alleged to have taken place between dates in 2010 and 2015 at an address in Angus and at police headquarters at West Bell Street, Dundee, and elsewhere.

Trial takes place on July 11 with an intermediate diet on June 23.

Donaldson was placed on bail meantime. It’s understood that Donaldson has worked as a constable in Dundee.

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that a 39-year-old man appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court having been reported in connection with breach of the peace, stalking and computer misuse offences.”

A MAN who headbutted a pub window, causing £500 worth of damage, has been jailed.

John Cummings, 33, of Francis Street, hit the window at Yuppies, Seagate.

Fiscal depute Vicki Bell said the incident happened around 1.40am on a busy Saturday.

The fiscal said: “Police officers were on foot patrol in the Seagate area when they saw the accused standing outside Yuppies.

“He was shouting and swearing at members of the public and staff in the pub. The two officers approached him and it was established he had been walking in the Seagate area and acting aggressively then stopped outside the bar and began shouting and swearing at people. Then, without warning, he headbutted an outside window at Yuppies, causing it to break.”

Solicitor David Duncan, defending, said Cummings had an “entrenched” alcohol problem.

Cummings admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting, swearing, acting aggressively and headbutting a window, causing it to smash. And he admitted a second offence of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting, swearing, acting aggressively and uttering threats of violence at Ninewells Hospital, on May 7.

Sheriff Alastair Brown sentenced Cummings to eight months’ imprisonment for the offence at Seagate, and three months’ jail for the offence at Ninewells, both of which are to run concurrently.

A man is to stand trial accused of choking a woman “to the danger of her life” and allegedly strangling another woman with a wire.

John Lawson, 34, is alleged to have assaulted Maxine Bayne at an address in Dundee.

He is accused of grabbing her by the throat, compressing it, pushing her causing her to fall, then repeatedly punching and kicking her on the head and body “to her severe injury and to the danger of her life”.

Prosecutors say Lawson then went to another address and attacked former partner Natasha Cochrane.

He is alleged to have placed a wire around her neck and pulled it tight, grabbed her by the body and brandished a knife, all to her severe injury.

An alternative charge alleges he culpably and recklessly grabbed her whilst brandishing a knife causing said knife to strike her hand to her severe injury.

At Dundee Sheriff Court, Lawson, denied two charges of assault and one of vandalism on indictment.

The offences are alleged to have taken place on March 2 at addresses in Dundee’s Brownhill Road and The Hazels.

Sheriff Alastair Carmichael set trial date for Monday June 20.

A MAN was left bleeding heavily on the floor of his own home after he was subjected to a brutal 30-minute attack.

Ryan Black, 22, carried out the assault on 34-year-old David Donald in the middle of the night.

Dundee Sheriff Court heard that Black burst into Mr Donald’s flat in Lorimer Street and kicked and punched him to the ground while demanding money.

Black, of Brougham Gardens, then stole £10 of loose change and Mr Donald’s watch.

Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson told the court that the incident happened shortly after midnight on February 16.

She said Mr Black was sleeping when he was awoken by the sound of his letterbox rattling and male voices in his hallway.

The fiscal said: “The complainer found the accused and another male in the hallway and approached them and asked them what they were doing. The accused then began to repeatedly punch and kick the complainer on the head and body.”

They moved into the living room as Black continued to assault Mr Donald, who was knocked to the floor.

The fiscal continued: “The complainer was kicked repeatedly on the head, which caused him to bleed heavily from the side of his face. At one point the accused stopped the attack and moved to the door, leaving the complainer lying on the floor bleeding, before returning and continuing to kick and punch the complainer on the head and body.”

Throughout the assault Black shouted, demanding money.

After he left, Mr Donald realised a bag containing £10 cash had been stolen along with his watch, worth around £20.

Neighbours who heard the assault estimated it lasted around 30 minutes.

Mr Donald attended at Ninewells Hospital and received six stitches to a cut under his left eye. He also sustained severe swelling and a broken nose.

Police traced Black at his home, along with a hoodie which had Mr Donald’s blood on it and trainers that matched a footprint on Mr Donald’s front door.

Black admitted assaulting Mr Donald by forcing his way into his home in Lorimer Street and repeatedly punching and kicking him on the head and body, to his severe injury, and robbing him of a quantity of coins and a watch, on February 16.

Sentence was deferred until July 1 for reports.

Two men have been charged with smashing the window of a Dundee pawnbrokers with a hammer and trying to steal jewellery.

Police launched an investigation after two “masked” men were said to have targeted Harvey and Thomson pawnbrokers on a “busy” afternoon in the Seagate.

The incident is alleged to have happened at about 3pm on Friday May 20.

Now, two men have appeared in court to face a charge in connection with the alleged attempted raid.

Lee Simpson, 32, of Dura Street, and Ian McCubbin, 27, of Park Avenue, appeared in private at the sheriff court.

Both made no plea or declaration in relation to one charge on petition.

Simpson and McCubbin are charged with repeatedly striking the window of the pawnbrokers with a hammer while their faces were masked, and attempting to steal a quantity of jewellery, on May 20.

The case was continued for further investigations and both men were granted bail meantime.

Officers issued an appeal in the days after the alleged attempted raid, looking to find an elderly woman who they said may have been standing near the shop at the time.

Police said that the alleged culprits may have made off westwards along Seagate and then up St Andrews Street towards the Wellgate shopping centre.

Speaking at the time, Detective Constable Graeme Wishart said: “As part of our investigation, officers have been making house-to-house inquiries and reviewing both police and private CCTV. We would like to hear from anyone who was in the area at the time.

“The area was busy with pedestrians and vehicles, and it is possible that someone may have seen something useful to the inquiry.

“In particular, is has been reported that there was an elderly lady standing outside the shop at the time of the incident.

“Officers are keen to talk to this lady as she may have information that could assist.”

One eyewitness at the time said the area had been sealed off, adding: “There were lots of police outside the pawn shop.

“I was coming up the road and heard a lot of commotion and lots of police cars went flying past.

“There were about four or five of them and police put the tape up straight away. That’s when I knew it was potentially something serious.”

A spokeswoman for the company said afterwards: “H&T can confirm that an alleged attempted burglary took place on May 20 at around 3pm at its Dundee store, causing damage to a window.

“No staff were involved and no items were stolen.”

A nursery worker who held a child upside down until blood vessels around their eye burst was today jailed.

Caroline Bell, 44, was locked up for eight months at Dundee Sheriff Court after being found guilty of two charges of assault.

She was found guilty after trial of assaulting two children at Busy Bee nursery in Cupar, Fife, between 2013 and 2014.

Bell, of Lorraine Drive, Cupar, had worked at the nursery — now called Little Beehives — for around five years.

A trial heard how during that time she had held a child upside down and the child became so upset that blood vessels around the child’s eye burst.

A witness said Bell had “joked” about the incident and recited events “as if she was talking about what she had for tea”.

The trial also heard of another incident when Bell picked another child off a climbing frame by their ankles and carried them across a room upside down before “dumping” on the ground.

The Crown also initially charged Bell with ill-treatment, which she denied. The charge was dropped as the trial started.

Bell wept in the dock as solicitor Kevin Hampton, defending, told the court Bell would lose her job if she sentenced to imprisonment.

Sheriff Simon Collins said: “These are dreadful offences, not just because of the harm but also because of the abuse of your position of trust.

“There was a compelling case against you involving multiple witnesses.

“The nature of the circumstances are so serious that there is not alternative to a custodial sentence.”

Sheriff Collins also banned Bell from working with children in the future.

A man who smashed a beer bottle off the head of a teenager outside a nightclub has been jailed.

Bruce Lamb, 35, was locked up for 18 months at Dundee Sheriff Court after admitting assault to injury.

The court heard Lamb, of South Street, Forfar, hit a beer bottle off the head of Jack Davidson, 18, a stranger to him.

Fiscal depute Vicki Bell told the court the attack took place in the early hours of January 10, outside the Royal nightclub in Forfar.

Solicitor Andy Lyall, defending, told the court Lamb suffered from post traumatic stress disorder.

Lamb admitted assaulting Mr Davidson by striking him on the head with a bottle, knocking him to the ground and kicking him on the head, all to his injury, at Osnaburg Street, Forfar, on January 10.

Sheriff Alastair Brown imposed 18 months’ imprisonment.

A Dundee man walked free from court after police forgot to bring video footage for evidence.

George Drummond, 38, from Lochee, appeared at Forfar’s Justice of the Peace Court to answer a charge of careless driving.

The charges against Mr Drummond were that he allegedly drove a vehicle without due care and attention and without making proper observations.

He was alleged to have failed to give way on the A932 Friockheim to Forfar road at the junction with the road to Letham.

Mr Drummond allegedly drove into the path of another vehicle, forcing its driver to take evasive action.

But it can be revealed today that the case was deserted after police failed to bring an evidential video from a police car for the court to view.

A last-ditch attempt was made, with officers sent from Dundee’s Bell Street headquarters with a DVD copy of the dashcam footage.

However, when they arrived at Forfar Sheriff Court the disc did not work.

The presiding sheriff then took the decision to desert the case rather than grant the Crown an extension.

Despite the Crown Office’s role in prosecuting legal proceedings, the onus is on police to ensure that any evidence requested by the Crown is available in the correct format for a trial.

In the aftermath of the case being deserted, a message posted online by Mr Drummond said: “Well all went well today, thrown out of court — they still didn’t have CCTV footage which the Crown only requested once back in February.

“And so they ordered the police to send up officers from Dundee with the footage and they raced up with a disc that was unplayable.”

The offences were alleged to have happened on November 4 last year.

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “We will look into the circumstances of this particular case to identify the reasons behind what happened.”

A Crown Office spokesman said: “The Crown requested video evidence from the police within appropriate timescales in anticipation of a trial. We are currently considering the decision of the court.”

It is understood the Crown may appeal the court’s decision in due course.

Mr Drummond could not be reached for comment.