The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is Scotland's public prosecution authority. In addition to prosecuting crimes in District, Sheriff and High Courts, the department also investigates sudden and suspicious deaths.
'COPFS in the News' provides a sample of the type of cases we have prosecuted in the past month:
Assault on a Procurator Fiscal
* Michael Shewan was sentenced to 4 years in prison at Inverness Sheriff Court for an assault on Procurator Fiscal Depute Alison Smith. Michael Shewan had assaulted Alison while attending a previous hearing at Inverness Sheriff Court. Sheriff Cameron who sentenced Mr Shewan commented: "It's essential that those concerned in the administration of justice and the administration of the courts be free to carry out their respective duties free of threat and free of actual violence as occurred here."
Drug Crime
* Gary Collins was sentenced to 4 years and 10 months in prison at the High Court in Edinburgh after police found cocaine with a street value of £42,000 at his house in Kirkcaldy. He admitted being concerned in the supply of drugs.
* Anthony and Lee Higgins, two brothers who operated a £1million-a-year drugs syndicate in Aberdeen, were sentenced to 8 years and 3 months each at the High Court in Aberdeen. Anthony Higgins had admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin, and Lee Higgins had admitted to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and heroin. Their accomplices, George Thomson and Michael Kelbie were sentenced to 5 years and 7 months and 3 years and 6 months respectively, both for being concerned in the supply of cocaine and heroin.
Sex Crime
* David Patterson was sentenced to 12 years for repeatedly raping a Dumfries woman between 1979 and 1982. He was also convicted of raping another woman, and of lewd and libidinous behaviour towards two young girls. He was found guilty at the High Court in Glasgow after a 4-day trial.
Knife Crime
* Christopher Walter, a man who pled guilty to assault and endangering life, was sentenced to 6 years in prison at the High Court in Edinburgh. He attacked his girlfriend's ex-lover with a knife, stabbing him 9 times. The victim leapt from a window to escape him, breaking his back and both feet.
* Christopher Ward was handed a 10-year sentence at Paisley High Court after being found guilty of attacking a man with a sword in Greenock. The victim's hand was almost severed off, along with a thumb and finger, as he tried to defend himself.