Bin shed rowdy ends up in the dock Lout found hiding by cops

An abusive yob was collared skulking in a bin shed by cops, a trial heard.

Gerard Tracey, 34, who was wearing a back brace to support an injury, kicked off at police officers called to a disturbance at Nethercraigs Court in the town’s Glenburn district on June 6.

Paisley Sheriff Court heard officers attended an address on the fourth floor amid a complaint about the accused, when they found him hiding in a bin storage area nearby.

When officers PC Laura Murray and PC Steven Lessells approached him, he started abusing them.

Fiscal depute Frank Clarke asked PC Murray about why the accused had reacted aggressively.

She replied: “We checked the bin storage area where we saw him through glass in the door. He was hiding.

“We asked him for his details when he became quite aggressive and hostile.

“We took hold of his arms and asked him to calm down.

“He refused to answer. He was aggressive. He was calling us ‘scummy b******s’ and ‘scummy c***s.’”

The officer added she and her colleague took hold of Tracey’s arms amid fears for their own safety.

Defence agent Paul Lynch asked the policewoman: “The two of you went there to arrest him, handcuff him, and put his arms up behind his back, and that’s when he made the inappropriate comments?”

The witness replied that was not the case.

The lawyer also accused the cops of being “heavy handed” towards the accused – however, both officers testified to the accused’s angry and aggressive manner.

The trial heard that cops discovered he was wearing the brace only after his arrest and they were taking him to the station to be formally charged and processed.

The court was told cops who were taking him to Greenock police station diverted to Clydebank because the accused needed a better cell to accommodate him due to his brace.

Tracey was convicted of charges of behaving in a threatening and abusing manner likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm on June 6, in that he did shout, swear, and act in an aggressive manner at Nethercraigs Court.

Sheriff Linda Smith found him guilty of the chargeand told him: “I find the officers spoke honestly and I do believe you acted in the manner as libelled.”

Tracey, who has previous convictions including assault and drugs offences, was freed from custody as he had been on remand from his arrest in June.