Edinburgh crime news: 10 criminals jailed in Edinburgh in August including county lines gang members

A woman who embezzled almost £1million from her employer and used it to fund a luxury lifestyle was among criminals to be jailed in Edinburgh in August.

Many criminals have appeared in the dock at Edinburgh courts over the past month, with jail sentences having been handed to paedophiles, drugs gang members and violent sex offenders. Here are 10 people who were put behind bars in August.

Emma Hunt

Edinburgh office manager Emma Hunt was jailed for three years after she obtained more than £900,000 through embezzlement and fraud. The 37-year-old used the money, which was stolen from McLean Properties and fraudulently obtained from its clients, to fund lavish parties, hotel stays, a five-star Caribbean holiday and designer goods.

Hunt was found guilty of fraud, embezzlement and money laundering at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Michael McGowan

Edinburgh man Michael McGowan was jailed after using his friend’s internet connection to download a horror haul of child abuse images. McGowan appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court where he admitted downloading the images at his friends’ home. Police raided the innocent couple’s house but soon traced McGowan after it emerged he was the culprit.

Sheriff Fiona Tait placed McGowan on the Sex Offenders Register and remanded him in custody. He was told he would be sentenced at a later date.

Jayson Dodds

East Lothian man Jayson Dodds was jailed in August after he battered a man during a Christmas Day party and threatened to petrol bomb a police station. The 22-year-old also told a police officer he would “bite his nose off”.

Dodds, from Musselburgh, East Lothian, was jailed for a total of 14 months. He had previously pleaded guilty to assaulting Joseph Agnew by struggling with him, punching him to the head and placing him in a headlock at an address at Newbigging, Musselburgh, on December 26 last year.

Shaun Muir

Shaun Muir, 37, was jailed for more than two years after he attempted to strangle his pregnant girlfriend during an argument.

Muir grabbed his partner Lucy Murray by the throat and squeezed tightly before he struck her to the floor. He then kicked the seven-week pregnant woman on the body while she lay on the ground at her home in Edinburgh.

Muir, from Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, was jailed for a total of 27 months and was handed a non-harassment order banning him from having any contact with Ms Murray for five years.

Daniel Anderson

Daniel Anderson was sentenced to eight years in prison after he carried out a string of serious sexual crimes spanning seven years. Anderson sexually abused a number of victims in West Lothian between 2014 and 2021. He was also handed a three year extended sentence.

Detective Inspector Frank Keegan praised the ‘incredibly strong’ victims who reported his crimes and helped to bring him to justice.

Sanjay Rana

Edinburgh man Sanjay Rana, 39, was jailed for 12 months after having been caught at his Newington home with more than 40,000 child abuse images and videos. During the raid, a number of electronic devices were seized and thousands of pictures and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children were found.

Prosecutor Matthew Millar said the images depicted “young females aged between six and 10 engaging in penetrative sexual acts with adults”. Rana pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children and was jailed for 12 months. He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

Zander Stevens

Zander Stevens, 32, was sentenced to six years in jail when he appeared at the High Court in Stirling on Tuesday, August 29. He was found guilty of assault, housebreaking and robbery. The offences were committed in November and December 2021 in Edinburgh.

Detective Constable Euan Chancellor said: “We welcome this sentencing which sends a clear message that violence towards anyone within our communities will not be tolerated in any form."

Mohammed Miah and Abdul Khan

Two members of a county lines drug trafficking gang who targeted vulnerable users in Edinburgh were jailed for a total of 11 years and three months. Mohammed Miah, 28, and Abdul Khan, 24, set up an operation to ferry substantial amounts of heroin and cocaine from Bradford to the Capital.

The operation saw them target vulnerable addicts in Edinburgh – offering them free drugs in return for using their homes as bases for their illegal activities. At the High Court in Edinburgh, Miah was sentenced to six years and three months in prison, while Khan was handed a five year sentence.

Isabella Carrasco

Isabella Carrasco was jailed for two years after having been caught attempting to import more than 35 kilograms of cannabis at Edinburgh Airport. The 21-year-old flew from her home in Los Angeles to London before taking a flight to Edinburgh a few days later. But border control officers stopped her, searched her luggage and discovered the haul worth around £400,000.

Sentencing, Sheriff Derek O’Carroll said: “You pled guilty at the earliest stage to a very serious offence. There is no alternative in my view to a custodial sentence because of the nature of the offence.

“In my view you did perform a significant role in the smuggling operation of a very substantial amount of cannabis. The starting point is four years custody, however there are a number of mitigatory factors referred to by your solicitor. Notably you have no previous convictions and also your remorse and also more importantly your age. I also have to take into account your guilty plea.”