Copfs

A man who set fire to two properties while conspiring to set others ablaze has been jailed for three years after his encrypted phone messages revealed his crimes. Lewis Connor, 27, used five jerry cans filled with petrol to substantially damage a house in Dennyloanhead, near Falkirk, which was under

A former local authority employee who embezzled more than £1 million from Aberdeen City Council over a 17-year period has been imprisoned for four years. Michael Paterson, 59, set up an internal pathway which allowed him to fraudulently issue council tax refunds into his own bank account.

A drugs courier who was paid £500 a trip to transport boxes of cannabis from England to Dundee has been jailed for 18 months. Lukas Losinski, 35, was caught with 974g of cannabis with a potential street value of £78,110 when police searched his home.

A man who carried out a campaign of violent and sexual offending lasting more than two decades has been jailed. Brian McGlashan, from Perth, was found guilty of eight charges following a trial at the High Court in Dundee on June 5.

A part-time dog walker has been imprisoned for five months after a dog and its six puppies – four of which had to be put down – were left in squalor in his faeces-ridden flat. One puppy was found to have a broken jaw, and another was suffering from two healing leg fractures where the bon

A former Boys Brigade leader and youth football coach has been jailed after historically abusing seven boys in his care. Craig Menzies targeted his victims at various locations across Scotland between 1986 and 2004. The 55-year-old met four of his victims when he was a unit leader with the 118th Boy

A manager who embezzled just over £40,000 from vulnerable residents at a social care charity has been imprisoned for 12 months. Violet Connor, 67, of Glenrothes, stole money from the bank accounts of Sense Scotland users over a three-year period.

The Crown Office has lodged first notices for fatal accident inquiries into the deaths of 57-year-old Stephen Charters and 19-year-old Harris James Macdonell. Stephen Charters, an inmate within HMP Edinburgh, died on 19 June 2022 after becoming unwell and suffering a collapse. A preliminary hearing

A Chinese crime gang that trafficked vulnerable women and forced them to work in brothels in Glasgow and Edinburgh as part of a lucrative prostitution network have been jailed for a total of 20 years and nine months. Qin Huang, 31, Guolei Huang, 35, and Xiao Min, 38, were sentenced at the High Court

A controlling and violent domestic abuser has been jailed following a catalogue of sexual and physical abuse. Steven Ramage targeted his victim at various addresses in the Ayrshire area between May 2014 and January 2020.

A Dundee woman who sold jewellery and ornaments online made from illegally traded ivory taken from the tusks of elephants has been fined £1,400. Joyce Bell, 67, made money from selling the carved ivory items to customers, many in China, between 2016 to 2022.

A salesman who was found guilty of being part of a £3.3 million fraud against Edinburgh University has been jailed for seven years. Aasim Johar, 54, colluded with the university’s former assistant director of estates and buildings Geoff Turnbull to mastermind a bogus procurement scheme t

A man convicted of concealing a haul of unaccounted-for money in a van has been ordered to pay back thousands of pounds under proceeds of crime legislation. In March 2022, Andrew Early, 38, pled guilty along with a co-accused to hiding £30,020 in the vehicle.

A former director of a haulage firm has been imprisoned for 16 months over a fraud involving police escort contracts. James Campbell altered paperwork for services provided to the firm by police in Scotland and Wales and overcharged a Spanish company by £110,000 for the transportation of wind

Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC has unveiled a plaque to mark the official opening of new office accommodation in Dundee for the city’s Crown Office staff. Around 80 COPFS staff moved into the new office, in Compass House on Riverside Drive, in March after relocating from the previous COPFS prem