Eighteen-year-old Gary Kernaghan had denied a charge of wilfully or recklessly destroying or damaging property belonging to another - but after listening to the evidence of two female witnesses, Sheriff John Herald said he had "no difficulty" in finding the accused guilty.

Stephanie Roxburgh told the court she had been in the street with her sister on September 25 last year and had seen Kernaghan run at the door and kick it three times; when she asked him what he was doing, Kernaghan said he lived at the close and had left his keys behind.

Ms Roxburgh said the door had been "fine" before Kernaghan kicked it, but when she checked it shortly after the incident it was damaged.

Amanda Burn corroborated Ms Roxburgh's version of events, and told the court Kernaghan had said: "I didn't do that - the door was like that."

Kernaghan told the trial he had been knocking at the door, rather than kicking it.

"There have been problems with the door," he said. "Ye cannae get in, ye cannae get oot - I think the Hydro Electric kicked the door in."

Defence witness William Eadie - who was warned to treat the court with respect after he announced his arrival in the witness box with a cheerful "Hullawrerr" to the sheriff - said there had been a number of problems with the locking system at the close's front door, including, he said, an incident which saw residents trapped for four hours because "Scottish Hydro turned off the power".

Sheriff Herald said he had no difficulty in preferring the evidence of the two female witnesses, and fined Kernaghan £350.