Knife thug chased woman and her boyfriend in park

A knifeman who chased a couple in Hamilton has been jailed for 18 months.

The female victim said David Simpson threatened to slit her boyfriend’s throat and the incident left her“terrified”.

Simpson, 29, was found guilty by a jury at Hamilton Sheriff Court of assaulting the pair by pursuing them while armed with a knife.

The court heard Simpson’s girlfriend had been in a relationship with the female victim’s brother, but there was “bad blood”between them after they split.

Simpson and his partner saw the man and woman in Clarkwell Road on August 27 last year.

The female victim said: “We were taking a short cut through a park.”

She told how they heard footsteps and when they turned round, Simpson was chasing her.

The woman told the court that she said to her partner:“he’s got a knife. Run”, and told how it looked like a hunting knife.“we both ran, but I had heels on and had to kick them off”, she added.

The court then heard Simpson began chasing the man and told him he was going to slit his throat before approaching the woman and pointing the knife at her.

“I was terrified, screaming”, she added, and told how Simpson then ran out of the park and she ran towards her boyfriend’s house.

Questioned by defence agent Andy Thomson, the woman denied making up a story to get Simpson into trouble because of the “bad blood”between her brother and his ex.

Mr Thomson said Simpson accepted chasing the male victim but denied having a knife.

Sheriff Colin Dunipace told Simpson, who admitted previous convictions, that only a prison sentence was appropriate.

The 18-month stretch was backdated to October 28 as Simpson has been in custody since then.