Jail for thug who beat victim with mop handle

Female cop faces months of tests after yob spat in her eye

An evil brute who repeatedly punched a man and burst his head open with a mop handle has been caged for eight months.

Thug Alexander Arrol, 28, went on an orgy of violence over the weekend in Paisley – just days after he was released from jail.

Arrol, from Waverley Road in the town’s Foxbar area, first sparked mayhem on Sunday at an address in Ferguslie Walk when he forced his way into a house and began shouting abuse.

The lout also refused to leave the victim’s house and demanded he allowed to drink alcohol at the property, as well as repeatedly banging on the door.

In a separate incident on Sunday, Arrol attacked John Dalziel in Broomlands Street in the town.

He punched his victim, slammed his head against a door frame and repeatedly attacked him with the mop.

The accused then spat in the eye of a brave female cop who went to the scene to arrest him and take him into custody.

WPC Ashleigh Boyle faces an agonising wait of months for health checks to ensure she has not contracted any infection from the callous yob.

Paisley Inspector Tracy Harkins, who is based in Mill Street, said: “This was a disgusting attack on an officer as she carried out her duties.

“She will now have several months of hospital tests due to the risk of any diseases being transferred.”

Paisley Sheriff Court heard how Arrol, who has accumulated almost 60 previous convictions over the last 15 years, appeared from custody to face the music.

Fiscal depute Maureen McGovern confirmed the accused was pleading guilty to charges of behaving in a threatening and abusive manner likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear and alarm at a house in Ferguslie Walk.

He also admitted charges of punching Mr Dalziel, striking his head off a door frame and repeatedly striking him with a mop, and to a charge of assault on a police officer at Greenock Police Office where he spat in the face of PC Boyle.

Arrol had been freed only days after he was sentenced to 10 months for a disturbance, also at Ferguslie Walk, where he was said to have thrown a Jack Russell puppy out of a third-floor window last February 27.

The accused was also alleged to have thrown a TV set from the window during the incident, as well as later exposing himself to a woman police officer during his detention and arrest.

Sheriff Vincent Canavan said the only sentence appropriate in the circumstances, was a custodial one, and jailed Arrol for eight months.