Weapons arrest yob told cop: My pals will get you

Boozed-up lout’s sick threats to police officer

A man lifted for carrying an “ice pick” threatened a cop saying: “He’ll not be seen again.”

Ian Young, 52, was stopped after police received reports of a man smashing up a phone box.

They frisked him and discovered a hammer and the pointed yellowhandled tool.

Young was cleared of carrying a weapon after it was ruled the end was not sharp enough at Paisley Sheriff Court.

PC Derek Deacon, 28, told how officers swooped after receiving reports of a man acting strangely.

He said:“A report had come in that there was a male seen in possession of a hammer going in and out of a phone box.

“I saw the man in the dark in the phone box.

“He had a black rucksack and seemed quite unsteady on his feet.

“During the search, we had hold of him and found a screwdriver within his jacket and a hammer was recovered from within the rucksack.

“It was a yellow- handled screwdriver. “It’s more like an ice pick. “It’s a kind of sharp pick. “It ’ s pointed, not like a screwdriver.

“If it was used for force, it would pierce skin.”

Young was detained after being stopped on Paisley’s Calside.

The court heard he had been spotted striking at the phone box before he was collared on February 25.

His possessions were confiscated and logged as evidence.

PC Graeme Emerson, 27, said he disagreed with the description of the yellow-handled tool.

He said: “I’d say it was more of an ice pick.

“It’s got a pointed end, rather than flat or star pointed.

“With force, it would penetrate, no doubt. “It has a thin point on the end.” Young ranted at police after he was taken to Greenock Police Office.

He singled out one officer and fumed: “I’ll remember his face. I’ll get my mates together and he’ll not be seen again.”

The lout had a not guilty plea accepted to carrying the hammer as a weapon.

He admitted shouting at police and was acquitted of carrying the screwdriver as an offensive weapon.

Defence lawyer Jonathan Manson insisted it was too blunt to be considered dangerous.

He claimed his client had acted out after being stopped after boozing because he wanted to go and visit his brother.

Sheriff Frances McCartney cleared him of carrying a weapon, but rapped him for abusing police.

She said: “The remarks you made to police are particularly appalling.

“Those sort of remarks should not be given to anybody, particularly serving officers, who are working on busy shifts. “I am just persuaded I can deal with this by financial penalty.”

Young, of Glenshiel Avenue, was fined £360.