Man threatened to stab teenager after demanding a cigarette

A drunk Perth man threatened to stab a teenage boy after he refused to give him a cigarette.

Iain Merchant did not know the 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, when he accosted him on the city’s Crieff Road.

Perth Sheriff Court heard yesterday one of the teen’s friends was employed as a bouncer and was able to forcibly restrain Merchant.

Depute fiscal Carol Whyte told the court: “At 8.20pm the complainer and his friends were making their way along the road when they met the accused, who they did not know.

“The accused approached the complainer and asked him for a cigarette. The complainer told him he didn’t have a cigarette and the accused then grabbed him by the arm and said ‘I have a knife. If you don’t give me a fag I will stab you’.

“He then put his hand into his left trouser pocket as if he was reaching for an item.

“One of the complainer’s friends, who works as a door steward, was able to restrain the accused and pin him to the ground.

“One of the other friends contacted police, who arrived within minutes. The accused was handcuffed and no knife was found.”

Solicitor Billy Somerville, defending, said Merchant, 21, was under the influence of alcohol at the time.

Merchant, of Menzies Court, Perth, admitted behaving in a threatening and abusive manner by seizing the teen by the arm and threatening him and another teenager with violence, demanding cigarettes from them, pretending he had a knife and threatening to stab them.

Sentence was deferred until next month for reports.