Aberdeenshire family pets killed during house party

A sheriff has told two evil thugs who killed a horrified family's pet geckos that their case was one of the most "difficult" that he had dealt with in his whole career.

Daniel Innes, 20, and 18-year-old Jordan McIsaac lifted the two lizards out of their cage and killed them during a house party.

One of the geckos fell to his death and the other one died in a kitchen blender in March last year.

And the sickening crime was filmed on the householder's teenage son's phone as he slept in the house in Aberchirder.

Horrified mum Amanda Bibby, 33, came home early from a weekend caravan trip to Ballater to find a scene of devastation in her Aberdeenshire property.

The house was wrecked - with Innes also causing thousands of pounds of damage during a rampage in her home.

The two yobs were due to be dealt with at Banff Sheriff Court yesterday but sheriff Philip Mann deferred the sentence for three months for the men to be of good behaviour and show they were "truly remorseful".

Sheriff Philip Mann told Innes and McIssac that the crime involving the deaths of the two geckos could be described as "chillingly evil" adding that it was a "matter of great concern".

He said: "You've given me one of the most difficult cases I've yet to deal with on the bench and I've been on the bench for about 11 years."

The sheriff advised the men to think of a way to demonstrate that they regretted their actions towards the animals.

And he suggested that they contact the Scottish SPCA animal welfare charity to ask if there was anything they could do to make amends for their behaviour.

Innes and McIssac were told that if they returned to court with a positive letter from the charity the sheriff would refrain from sending them to jail