Tackling threat, harm and risk

Significant court outcomes

Death of Cameron Rae - Perth
On Friday, 4 October, 20-year-old Caleb Ferguson was found guilty of the murder of 20-year-old Cameron Rae, following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh. Mr Rae was found injured within a flat in Perth on Saturday, 8 April, 2023. He was pronounced dead a short time later. Cameron was a young man when his life was ended and this incident was felt by the whole community in Perth. Our thoughts remain with Cameron's family and all those who knew him.

Death of Keith Rollinson - Elgin
A 16-year-old male pleaded guilty to culpable homicide at the High Court in Edinburgh on Friday, 18 October following the death of Keith Rollinson in Elgin in February. The incident happened at the town’s bus station on St Giles Road around 10.40pm on Friday, 2 February, 2024. Mr Rollinson’s death was a tragedy which affected a number of people across Elgin and the wider Moray area. The thoughts of the entire policing team remain with his family, friends and colleagues who have suffered a devastating loss.

Violence against women
At the High Court in Paisley on Wednesday, 9 October, Callum Monson, 28, was sentenced to seven years in prison and three years under supervision having been found guilty of the crimes against six women between 2019 and 2023.

Operation Pepperoni
In October six members of a serious organised crime group were jailed for almost 50 years after being convicted of conspiring to import £100 million of cocaine to Scotland from Ecuador in a consignment of bananas and manufacture millions of Etizolam tablets.
James Stevenson, 59, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. His accomplices, David Bilsland, 68, Paul Bowes, 53, and Lloyd Cross, 32, were each sent to prison for six years. Gerard Carbin, 45, was sentenced to seven years and Ryan McPhee, 34, to four years.
The multi-agency operation, Pepperoni, which spanned several countries, prevented a huge haul of illegal drugs reaching our communities and will have undoubtedly saved lives. This important outcome underlines Police Scotland's commit to ensuring Scotland remains a hostile environment for organised criminals as part of the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce.

Organised crime
On Thursday, 24 October, at the High Court in Livingston Christopher Smith, 34, was sentenced to seven years and five months in prison for organised crime offences whilst in prison, having been convicted of organising the supply of controlled drugs. Smith's offences occurred at HMP Edinburgh and at addresses across Edinburgh, Inverness and Nairn between March 2018 and November 2019. He was also issued with a Serious Crime Prevention Order, which will last for three years, to help prevent him returning to crime when he is released from jail.
At the High Court in Glasgow, on Tuesday, 29 October, John Bonner, 38, Christopher Laycock, 52, and David Kelly, 42, were jailed for a total of 18 years and five months for their involvement in serious organised crime offences including importing and supplying controlled drugs, possessing firearms and money laundering. The men were arrested as part of Operation Buggy, an investigation into drug trafficking into Scotland from Spain between March 2020 and January 2022, and Operation Escalade, a high-profile investigation into one of the country's top-tier and most prolific serious organised crime groups.

Cannabis cultivation
On Tuesday, 1 October, at Dundee Sheriff Court Indrit Saraci, 27, was sentenced to three years and nine months and Adiol Hila, 37, was jailed for three years and four months after pleading guilty to drugs offences following the discovery of a cannabis cultivation worth an estimated £1.7 million in Dundee.

Drug Recoveries
On Friday, 4 October, officers from the Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism Unit West recovered drugs in Glasgow worth an estimated street value of around £5.5 million. This included more than 90kgs of cocaine, 23kgs of heroin, 19kgs of MDMA and around 5,800 diazepam and ecstasy tablets. A quantity of cash and ammunition were also recovered. A search of a vehicle was also carried out with approximately 20kg of cocaine being found. Two men, aged 30 and 45, and a woman, aged 31, were arrested and charged in connection with the seizure and appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Monday, 7 October.
Five men were arrested and charged following the discovery of a cannabis cultivation in West Calder estimated to be worth £1.2 million in September. The men, aged 20, 22, 26, 29 and 36, appeared at Livingston Sheriff Court on Thursday, 26 September, in connection with drugs offences.

Human trafficking
Officers carried out an operation with colleagues from the Home Office Immigration Enforcement team at three addresses in Paisley on Thursday, 26 September. Two women, aged 38 and 44, were arrested and charged in connection the offences. On Monday, 30 September, a 37-year-old woman was arrested and charged in connection with brothel keeping, human trafficking and serious and organised crime offences at Abercorn Street, Paisley. The arrest follows an extensive enquiry into brothel keeping, human trafficking and serious and organised crime offences at premises across the town.
Two men were arrested and charged in relation to human trafficking offences in Mallaig and Tarbert on Tuesday, 5 November. A 50-year-old man was arrested from a fishing boat off the coast of Mallaig, and a 38-year-old man was arrested from a fishing boat off the coast of Tarbert during the pre-planned operation.

Operation Moonbeam
During the operation, over 500 specialist resources supported local policing teams across Scotland in responding to fireworks offences. This included Public Order Officers, Evidence Gathering Teams and the Police Scotland Air Support Unit.
Additional policing powers under the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles Act (2022) were utilised to keep communities safe and in Edinburgh, a number of Fireworks Control Zones and Dispersal Zones in place. Officers deployed within the Capital had the ability to take appropriate enforcement action against anyone committing a breach of the legislation within these areas.
Bonfire Night 2024 saw a fall in the number of incidents of serious disorder arising and a significant fall in the number of officers injured. No officers deployed during Bonfire Night itself reported any injuries, however one officer was hurt during Halloween when a brick was thrown through the window of her vehicle in Edinburgh.
The criminal investigative strategy following Bonfire Night continues and so far 43 arrests have been made.
Those involved in the planning, co-ordination and delivery of Operation Moonbeam, and divisional Bonfire Night responses, played a vital role in ensuring communities and emergency service workers were not subjected to the same ordeals that arose in 2023. Areas that had previously required a significant level of policing resource to address fireworks-related crime, such as the Kirkton area of Dundee and the north west of Edinburgh, saw a sizeable reduction in calls.
While Operation Moonbeam 2024 has concluded, a review and planning for next year will begin shortly so we can continue to address fireworks offences and make communities safer during Bonfire Night.