Couple found guilty of assaulting boy and girl

A couple who assaulted two children have been given community sentences, with a sheriff expressing "concern" at some aspects of the prosecution against them.

Cameron Cole, 48, and Phyllis Arthur, 36, were found guilty by a jury of assaulting, threatening and striking a boy and girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Arthur and Cole were sentenced to 300 hours and 150 hours of unpaid work respectively, and Arthur was placed on social work supervision for two years.

A series of charges alleging the couple had subjected the youngsters and three others to wilful neglect were withdrawn by prosecutors during the trial at the High Court in Stirling.

Arthur, of Falkirk, and Cole, of Grangemouth, had denied all the charges.

Sheriff Wyllie Robertson told the accused: "Each of these charges contained a number of separate allegations, and I remember in one counting some 30 different allegations that were made against you. These charges were withdrawn by the Crown, and properly so.

"In one notable allegation, after inquiry I was informed that there appeared to have been no foundation or admissible evidence that would have justified putting it on the indictment.

"It's concerning that some of the allegations in the wilful neglect charges found their way onto the indictment."

Cole and Arthur were found guilty of assaulting the boy and threatening him with violence, with Arthur presenting a knife at him and Cole striking him on the head.

They were also found guilty of assaulting and threatening the girl, with Cole throwing her against a vacuum cleaner.

Cole was also found guilty of acting aggressively towards a neighbour in Falkirk.

The offences were committed between 2011 and 2022.