A 52-YEAR-OLD sex offender, snared in a police operation in which he had online sex chats with a person he believed to be a 12-year-old girl, has been sentenced to supervision. Peter Houlihan’s sick messages were being sent straight to a police officer, as part of a decoy operation run from England. Houlihan, of Back o’ Yards, Inverkeithing, appeared for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court. He admitted previously that between December 8-11, he sent sexual communications via the WhatsApp and Fast Flirting platforms to a police officer then posing as a 12-year-old girl. Sheriff Alastair Brown imposed a community payback order with six months of supervision. Houlihan was also placed on the sex offenders register.
Wednesday court round-up Door alarm theft and gambling with freedom By Crime and Courts Team April 28 2021, 7.30pm
Door alarm theft
A “persistent thief” from Perthshire broke into a stranger’s house in Precinct Street, Coupar Angus and stole items including her door alarm.
Alexander Laurie, 48-year-old was previously the victim of a serious assault, which left him with a brain injury, Perth Sheriff Court heard.
On the night of the break-in, in March 2020, he had been drinking alcohol, on top of his medication.
Laurie, of Calton Street, Coupar Angus, crept in through a kitchen window and made off with a hearing aid pouch, a gas lighter, a quantity of candles and wax melts, a door bell and a door alarm.