Man armed himself with knife during row

A drinking session with neighbours led to a Hamilton man arming himself with a kitchen knife in a row over a missing key.

Steven Sandilands (30), of Kelvin Gardens, was jailed for nine months at Hamilton Sheriff Court last week.

He admitted shouting abuse and kicking the door of his neighbour Christopher Hillan’s flat while holding a blade on January 9.

Callum Forsyth, prosecuting, said the men and two women had been drinking in Mr Hillan’s flat.

Sandilands got drunk and the others carried him across the landing to his flat.

He was sleeping and his key was put through his letter box. However, when he woke some time later he couldn’t find his key and went back to Mr Hillan’s flat to demand it.

Mr Forsyth told the court:“he was shouting abuse at Mr Hillan who looked through the spy hole and saw the accused had a small kitchen knife.

“Sandilands then began to kick the door repeatedly and due to his actions the police were called.”

Defence agent Diarmid Bruce said Sandilands couldn’t find his key and went back to his neighbour’s flat, convinced it must be inside. Police couldn’t locate it either.

The solicitor added: “There had never been any difficulty with his neighbour. He didn’t think anyone had stolen the key. It was a misunderstanding.”

Sheriff David Bicket told Sandilands:“you have a significant record but only one relatively recent matter and because of that I’ll restrict the sentence.”

The nine-month prison stretch was backdated to January 10 as Sandilands has been in custody since then.