Thurso man cleared of all charges

A THURSO man was today cleared of a baseball attack in the town, after a trial collapsed.
Terrence Cannop (33) was also found not guilty at Wick Sheriff Court of making a threatening phone call and damaging a car. He had denied all three charges on indictment.
Mark Rosie (24) told a jury that a friend, Martin Kirk, had received a call when they were driving in Thurso on February 16.
Mr Rosie said Mr Kirk told him that it was “a threatening message” and they then drove to a house in Lord Thurso Court, in the town, to see Cannop.
Mr Rosie said he asked the accused to come outside to “sort things out”. The witness continued that Cannop had a baseball bat and began swinging it about in front of him. Mr Rosie said that he was hit on the arm which he had raised to protect himself, and then received a second blow, in his kidneys. A scuffle ensued and Cannop ended up on the ground. They were separated by people who had come out of the house.
Mr Rosie said he went into the house and, shortly afterwards, heard the sound of car windows being smashed. When he went outside, he saw Cannop running away and discovered that it was windows of Mr Kirk’s car which had been damaged.
Mr Rosie said that he was admitted to hospital for a week after medication prescribed to him had made him feel unwell.
Cross-examined by defence solicitor, Neil Wilson, Mr Rosie conceded he had not witnessed the vandalism.
Mr Rosie denied a suggestion that he had a grudge against Cannop and had made up “all this nonsense about a baseball bat assault”. Mr Rosie denied that.
Giving evidence, Mr Kirk (19) denied receiving a threatening phone call from Cannop. Mr Kirk said there had been a brief scuffle between the accused and Mr Rosie in the garden, outside the house, in Lord Thurso Court, but had not seen a baseball bat and didn’t know anything about it.
Neither did seventeen-year-old Paul Cannop, a brother of the accused. He told the court there had been “a little fight” between Terrence and Mr Rosie but had no idea how it had started or ended, and he had not seen a baseball bat.
Senior fiscal depute, David Barclay: “If the police thought you had seen it, are they mistaken?”
Paul Cannop: “Yes”.
At that point, Mr Barclay announced that he was no longer seeking a conviction and Sheriff Andrew Berry formally found Terrence Cannop not guilty of all three charges.