Saturday, April 19, 2025

4th person in court over damage to Trump golf resort

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USA president Donald J. Trump. PHOTO/https://www.whitehouse.gov/

A fourth person has appeared in court accused of maliciously damaging a Scottish golf course owned by US President Donald Trump.

Police were called to the Trump Turnberry course in South Ayrshire at about 4.40am on Saturday, 8 March.

Officers found red spray paint had been used to deface the 800-acre resort’s clubhouse, while its greens were also damaged.

Autumn Ward was arrested in Liverpool on Thursday and charged in connection with the damage.

The 21-year-old appeared before Ayr Sheriff Court on Friday, where she made no plea to the single charge of malicious mischief.

The suspect, who is from Liverpool, was granted bail pending a further court appearance.

A Scottish government publication from October 2023 defines the common law offence of malicious mischief as the “wilful, wanton and malicious destruction of, or damage to, the property of another”.

It notes the charge should only be recorded “where widespread damage is caused, where the value of the damage is considerable, or where there is disruption of power supply, flooding or similar”.

The publication says there is no specific monetary value at which a potential crime should be recorded as malicious mischief rather than vandalism, but multiple thousands of pounds of alleged damage would be required.

Ward is the fourth person to be charged in connection with the case.

Kieran Robson, 33, of Galashiels in the Scottish Borders; Ricky Southhall, 33, of Wakefield in West Yorkshire; and Uzma Bashir, 55, of Leeds in West Yorkshire, have also been accused of malicious mischief.

The trio have previously appeared before Ayr Sheriff Court, where they each made no plea to the charge and were bailed pending further court appearances.

Additionally, a 75-year-old man and a 66-year-old woman were arrested last month as part of the investigation following enquiries in Oban, Argyll and Bute.

Both were later released pending further inquiries.