Sheriff of Duns
When all else fails to divert the weekly Berwickshire News can be counted upon to provide light relief. Especially the cases in Duns Sheriff Court, Sheriff James Scott (
vice Sheriff Kevin) presiding. To those of us living the good (and sheltered) life in Hutton and Paxton the depravity elsewhere in Berwickshire, as dealt with by the Sheriff of Duns is eye opening. This week the court dealt with a teenager calling a 14 year old a 'nigger' and a 'Paki'-result of a family feud and not racism according to the defending officer. The Sheriff was not impressed and the offender got 150 hours community service. Then there was the 46 year old taxi driver sending lewd text messages to a girl of 15. The.The correspondence had started when the Taxi man replied to a text from the girl about a foot ball match. 'Celtic are rubbish' perhaps. These messages were apparently meant to be a joke, although not shared by the victim as the 'string of texts became more and more explicit' The defending officer explained that the accused 'had no intention of carrying out any of those messages'. Case carried over for reports.
More mundanely a motorist who had refused to provide a breath test was in front of the Sheriff. He had been stopped smelling of alcohol and been seen 'weaving about the road and mounting the pavement'. His speech was slurred and he refused to give his name. The defence was unusual: apparently he suffered from a condition which made him gag when things were out in his mouth when he was under stress. He had not told the police as he thought they might not believe him. The Sheriff seemed to be similarly incredulous as the motorist was fined £200 and disqualified for 5 years
Final burst of shopping for 9 items this morning. Movement difficult tomorrow. The Jim Clark road rally disrupts Berwickshire as from tomorrow with roads closed in all directions as a collection of Mr and Mrs Toads terrorise the usually peaceful countryside. Hnotorious our notorios sharp bends will exact some revenge
