Six months’ curfew for Fort man

A FORT William man has had his liberty restricted after a sheriff ordered him to remain in his home between 7pm and 7am for the next six months.

Malcolm Watson, of Lochaber Road, appeared at the town’s sheriff court before Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald for sentencing after previously pleading guilty to five charges.

These were that, on March 31 this year in a street in Fort William, he had behaved in a threatening or abusive manner likely to place someone in a state of fear or alarm by shouting threats of violence through someone’s letterbox and gesturing in an abusive manner; breaking a kitchen window in the same property with a stone and then breaking a living room window with a brick.

Watson, who is 32 today (Thursday), also admitted that on the same day in a police vehicle in Fort William, he had behaved aggressively towards officers by shouting and swearing, uttering threats of violence and striking the walls of a cell at Fort William Police Station with his head.

Watson also admitted that later the same day he had assaulted and hindered two nurses at Fort William’s Belford Hospital by adopting an aggressive manner, uttering threats and abusive remarks, and preventing them from carrying out a medical assessment. Watson had also pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer at Fort William Police Station later the same day by attempting to bite him.

‘When he was placed in the police vehicle, the accused’s behaviour varied between acting limp to becoming aggressive towards police officers,’ said procurator fiscal Robert Weir.

Watson had become covered in what Mr Weir described as a ‘huge’ amount of blood from injuries incurred as a result of banging his head off the walls of a cell and also sustained fractures and cuts to his hands.

Defence agent Hamish Melrose said his client had been drinking and accepted his behaviour had been unacceptable, and Watson had written to police and hospital staff to apologise, adding: ‘At the time, Mr Watson had clearly been drinking too much and it followed his attendance at the funeral of a close friend the day before.’

Issuing the restriction of liberty order for six months, which will see Watson forced to wear an electronic tag and be supervised, Sheriff MacDonald described the offence as ‘very unpleasant and serious’, telling Watson he already had a significant record of offending.

‘I am only just persuaded to deal with this by a communitybased disposal,’ she said.