Lout asks sheriff to lock him up to help him quit the booze
A drunk who smacked a shop worker over the head with a sign and then climbed a traffic lights pole in a bizarre incident asked a sheriff to send him to jail.
Thomas Mowles told Sheriff Colin Pettigrew he feared for his own safety due to his excessive drinking and wanted to go into custody when he appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court yesterday.
The 28 year old was in the dock after previously admitting to assaulting Asda Barrhead staff member Robert Aitkenhead by hitting him over the head with a sign at the Church Road supermarket on January 21 this year.
Mowles, of Dovecothill Street, Barrhead, also admitted having a hammer in his possession on Main Street, Barrhead on February 4, throwing the hammer and hitting a set of traffic lights and then climbing onto the traffic lights on Dovecothill Street.
Defending Mowles, solicitor Eamonn McGeehan said requesting to have a client remanded in custody was an unusual position for him to be in.
He said: “I am faced with a counter intuitive situation today in that he has asked me to ask the court not to continue his bail.
“He thinks he is drinking too much and is a danger to himself.
“He wants to get help and he understands that it is not the responsibility of the court but it is what he has asked me to convey to the court on his behalf.”
Replying to the request, Sheriff Pettigrew said: “I understand there are and have been several covid outbreaks in our institutions.
“That is not a criticism of them, they are doing the best they can.
“Is it Mr Mowles’ position that he still wishes to be remanded in custody?”
Mr McGeehan replied: “Yes, I have discussed this with him fully.”
Mowles was remanded in custody and will return to court for sentencing on March 25 once a Criminal Justice Social Work report has been obtained.
He thinks he is drinking too much and is a danger to himself. He wants to get help