COURT ROUND-UP: Rapist jailed and men accused of running brothel among last month's Inverness court business
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Inverness Sheriff Court saw a huge mix of criminal business in January.
Here's our recap of some of the cases that made the headlines last month.
A woman was terrorised by a man who threatened to kill her and burn her house down with her two children inside.
Liam McIntosh also turned up at the woman's house armed with an axe and a hammer and said he would use one of the weapons to harm any police officer who came near him.
A 29-year-old man appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court accused of a machete attack on another man in Gilbert Street in the city earlier this week.
Malcolm Macleod, from Inverness, made no plea to charges of attempted murder and possession of a bladed weapon and a knuckleduster.
Two Romanian men have appeared in private at Inverness Sheriff Court accused of running a brothel in Inverness.
Marian Sipica (28) and Ionut Cocilnau (30), who both had addresses in Coventry, made no plea to the allegation which involves a property in Crown Street.
A rapist has been jailed for 13 years after being convicted of sex and physical assaults on three women in the Inverness and Ross-shire areas.
Neil Campbell (39) was sentenced this week at the High Court in Inverness after being found guilty of a number of serious offences at the High Court in Aberdeen back in November.
As well as being jailed for 13 years for offences including rape, sex assault and assault to severe injury and danger to life, he will also spend a further three years under license upon his eventual release.
A Highland teenager led police on a 26-mile high speed pursuit on snow-covered roads while dodging stinger-style attempt to stop him in his tracks.
Duncan Maclennan, of Aultbea, was a disqualified driver at the time and in his father's car, Inverness Sheriff Court was told.
The former Croy teenager, now of Pier Road, Aultbea also phoned Police Scotland's control room to try and do a deal with them to make him stop.
A 13-year-old girl was sexually abused by an older man in a Moray property over a period of two months in 2007.
But the victim contacted police to report it and last year Alan Dawson faced trial on having illegal sexual intercourse with the young teenager and sexually assaulting her, known at the time as lewd and libidinous behaviour.
A Hollywood executive told police that he has never met a woman who conned her family in a fake actress scam.
Irving Azoff (76), was contacted by police investigating Heather Dunlop (38), who claimed that she was represented by him.
Heather – who went by the stage name Heather Cameron – also told loved ones that she had signed million-pound film and advertising contracts.
A woman posing as a 10-year-old girl was sent sexual communications and images by a 62-year-old Nairn man.
The course of conduct took place between May 16, 2022 and July 18, 2022 and Harry Croft's activity included asking for her to send images of herself.
Police raided an Inverness house and arrested two men who were concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine.
A search warrant for the property at Rosehaugh Road, was obtained by officers and executed on December 4, 2020 and cash and the drugs were found.
An Inverness gangland boss who was caught after police intercepted his encrypted phone chats made more than £767,000 from his life of crime, a court has heard.
Ryan Ferguson (31) was snared after European detectives learned how to decode communications which were sent using a top secret app called EncroChat.
A community payback supervisor was attacked by one of his clients who had been drinking when the social worker arrived to pick him up.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard that Neil Macdonald, of Merkinch Place, Inverness arrived at the pick-up point on February 15, 2021 and the social worker was sure that the 33-year-old was intoxicated.
A sheriff told a Nairn man his violent abuse against a woman was concerning in someone so young.
Fabian Mattis (20) appeared for sentence at Inverness Sheriff Court after admitting an abusive course of conduct against the woman that included seizing her by the neck and compressing her breathing.
