10 of the strangest crimes ever committed in Scotland

Over the past decade, there have been several crimes committed in Scotland which are undeniably weird.

A 41-year-old man fed sausage rolls to police horses in September 2012, leading to a breach of the peace charge. Picture: Getty

Here are 10 of the strangest crimes that Scotland has ever seen.

Causing “fear and alarm” with a black pudding

In September 2012, a Scottish man appeared in court after being accused of behaving too aggressively with a black pudding. The 47 year old was said to have shouted and thrown a black pudding across a room in his apartment in Perth. Reportedly, the man acted “in a threatening or abusive manner which was likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear and alarm”. He was also charged with one count of assault after allegedly kicking a 10 year old girl, and one count of property damage after kicking down a door.

Trying to have sex with train drinks trolley

A 25 year old man appeared in court in January 2014, after trying to have sex with a train’s on-board drinks trolley. Perth Sheriff Court heard testimony that the accused tried unsuccessfully to kiss fellow passengers, before turning to the drinks trolley instead. His solicitor told the court that this behaviour was a result of taking a legal high.

Scratching a BMW for no reason

A woman appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court in August 2016 after scratching another woman’s car. The culprit scratched a key along the side of her neighbour’s white BMW X3 (as well as two other cars) while out walking her dog. In total, she caused almost £3,000 worth of damage to cars parked near her home in Buckie, Moray. The woman’s solicitor said that his client couldn’t give an explanation for her actions.

Feeding sausage rolls to police horses

A 41 year old man fed sausage rolls to police horses in September 2012, leading to a breach of the peace charge. He stood trial a few months later, following allegations that he behaved in a “threatening or abusive manner” towards officers when told to put the food away. A source close to the case said that Kelly decided to feed the horses because he thought they looked hungry.

Stealing rare birds’ eggs

In 2012, a 49-year-old man was given an ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order) for stealing the eggs of rare birds. The ASBO bans him from visiting Scotland during nesting season for 10 years. He is also banned from visiting land owned by the Wildlife Trust and the RSPB.

Filming a dog’s Nazi salutes

A man was arrested in May 2016 when he posted an online video showing his dog apparently making Nazi salutes. The 28 year old from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, faced hate crime charges for posting the video. The video showed the man’s pug sitting in front of a screen showing footage of Adolf Hitler while making Nazi salutes. Police officers said that the video had “caused offence and hurt to many people in our community”.

Robbing a bookmakers’ with a cucumber

A man was jailed for 40 months in February 2014 after attempting to rob a Glasgow bookmakers armed with a cucumber. He put the cucumber in a sock and brandished it at a female Ladbrokes worker, demanding money. After she refused, the man was knocked to the ground by an off-duty police officer, and was arrested. The police officer then took the sock off the cucumber and revealed that it was not a gun, as previously thought. The accused told the police that it had been a joke, saying, “It was a dare. Am I getting the jail for this?”

Stealing Weetabix from a police station

In 2013, a 38 year old man broke into an unmanned police station in Oxgangs, then helped himself to a mixture of ravioli, Weetabix and milk in a saucepan. He later appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in January 2015, and was sentenced to three months in jail, having admitted to his crime. After being discovered by police officers at the station, the man told them that he had been hungry.

Space hopping on dual carriageway

On New Year’s Day, 2015, police pulled over a man riding a space hopper through a Dundee underpass. At about 3am, the man was found trying to bounce along the dual carriageway Marketgait underpass. The underpass has no pedestrian footpath. Although he was stopped by police and “looked very drunk”, no formal action was taken. A witness told BBC Scotland, “It was like a scene from the movie The Hangover”.

Santa Claus climbing on a statue

In December 2014, a man dressed as Father Christmas decided to climb on the famous Duke of Wellington statue in Glasgow. The man sat on the back of the horse, behind the Duke, who usually wears a traffic cone as a hat. The fire service eventually retrieved the man from the back of the horse and took him down a ladder. Later, Police Scotland tweeted, “Don’t worry, Christmas hasn’t been cancelled – it wasn’t the real Santa.” The man was served with a fixed-penalty ticket for climbing on the statue.