Threatened to bite cop’s nose off

A thug almost caused a police officer to crash his vehicle while en route to Coatbridge police office.

Gary McLeod, 27, behaved disgracefully after being arrested on April 28.

He lunged towards the driver, then attempted to headbutt a female police officer in the back of the car.

McLeod yelled“I’ll bite your nose off”at the officer during the attempted assault. And upon arrival at the police office, his violent outburst continued.

The procurator fiscal told Airdrie Sheriff Court: “En route to Coatbridge police office he became angry and lunged towards the driving officer which caused him to swerve.

“He also lunged at the female officer in the back and tried to headbutt her before shouting,‘I’ll bite your nose off’.

“He refused to calm down and tried to headbutt another officer upon arrival at the police office.

“Upon being cautioned and charged he referenced one of the police officers and said‘I’ll kill that fat b******’.”

In mitigation, defence solicitor Mark Sloan said: “I have dealt with Mr McLeod for a number of years and this is out of character for him.

“He hasn’t drank since the incident and has apologised to the officers involved.

“He had a good trade for a number of years as a joiner before falling victim to a drug addiction. He’s ashamed of his actions and so he should be.

“But he pleaded guilty early and hasn’t wasted any of the court’s time.”

Sheriff Frank Pieri told Cumbernauld resident McLeod:“This is an extremely serious matter.

“These charges should actually put you in territory where a custodial sentence is a viable option.

“As your solicitor pointed out, though, you don’t have a record for this kind of thing. I’m just persuaded to deal with this by way of an alternative to custody.

“I’ll impose a restriction of liberty for four months which means you must stay in your home between the hours of 7pm and 7am every day.

“If you breach this or interfere with your tagging device you’ll be brought back here to be sentenced all over again.”