Youth coach jailed for rape, an armed siege, and abuse among week’s Inverness court business

Inverness Sheriff Court saw a huge mix of criminal cases last week including a youth coach jailed for rape, serious domestic abuse and a fraudster conning pensioners out of thousands of pounds.

Here’s our recap of some of the cases that made the headlines last month.

• Inverness former youth football coach who raped teenager jailed for five years

Lee Murray was found guilty of four charges following a trial at the High Court in Inverness on July 30.

The 53-year-old also sent the same child indecent images of himself and inappropriate messages while proposing to meet up with her.

He was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting her in his vehicle on various occasions in the Inverness area.

While on bail for that offense, the former Thistle Girls FC head coach sent sexual messages to an adult female, who was posing as a 14-year-old girl on a social media app.

Murray, who believed he was talking to the underage child, then engaged in a video call on WhatsApp where he indecently exposed himself to the same person.

• Inverness man jailed after attempting to ‘walk away with the finger still in his mouth’ during assault on estranged wife at Lauders

A sheriff has jailed a domestic abuser for 18 months after he bit his estranged wife’s finger to leave a permanent mark.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank was told that 27-year-old Lewis Swenson had previous convictions for domestic offenses and had twice completed a program for men who are violent towards their partners.

Defense solicitor Natalie Paterson revealed the background to Swenson’s past when he appeared for sentence at Inverness Sheriff Court.

• Highlanders conned out of £73k by fraudster – including to pay for fake cancer ‘treatment’ and ‘investing’ in fantasy diamond mine in South Africa

A fraudster who spun an ‘elaborate and highly imaginative web of lies’ to con several people out of more than £73,000 has been sentenced to 33 months in jail.

But 56-year-old Michael Walker’s sentence was backdated by Sheriff Ian Cruickshank to his date of remand on October 4 last year, and with only half the sentence being served, he could be released in weeks.

Walker was appearing for sentence at Inverness Sheriff Court following the preparation of a background report and the case was originally heard by Sheriff Gary Aitken.

• Inverness drug user threatened to stab armed police with large kitchen knife in 6-hour siege

A 56-year-old Inverness man who was involved in a siege-type incident last year was at the center of a second similar stand-off of “epic proportions” with the police and emergency services in May this year.

It came just weeks before Allan Craig, of Muirtown Street, Inverness was jailed for nine months this summer for the February 2023 drama outside his house.

Craig is still serving that sentence and appeared before Sheriff Ian Cruickshank at Inverness Sheriff Court by video link to admit a breach of the peace committed on May 9 this year.

Sentence had previously been deferred for a background report.

• Beautiful man smashes council house windows and door as birthday party turns nasty

Inverness Sheriff Court heard that Gary Marshall of Priory Court, Beauly had been out for a meal first before attending the social event on the night of January 28 this year.

He went back to her property in Orchard Park but his partner had to leave due to his behavior.

Fiscal deputy Victoria Silver said: “Neighbors saw him holding a big stick. He smashed three windows and a glass interior door before police were called.”

Marshall admitted maliciously damaging the council house.

• Inverness man jailed after late-night street communication involved knife-wielding, shouting and swearing

Police were called to the South Kessock area of ​​Inverness when a man was reportedly wielding a knife and shouting and swearing in the street.

Rafal Grzejszczak was standing outside his home in Carnarc Crescent at 11.49pm on March 15 last year when neighbors were disturbed by the commotion he was making.

Fiscal MP Adele Gray told Inverness Sheriff Court: “He was aggressively shouting and swearing in Polish at someone up the street. Then he went into his house and re-appeared with a knife and brandished it.

View our fact sheet on court reporting here