‘I’ll rip your face off’ dad is jailed
Boy, 12, and family terrorised after fight
A DAD has been jailed for threatening to “rip the face off” a 12-year-old boy who fought with his son at school.
Dale Martin turned up at the youngster’s home wielding a knife, a court heard. Later he confronted the boy at a train station and tried to punch him. His conduct was branded “deplorable” by a sheriff who jailed him for 18 months. Hamilton Sheriff Court heard the boy’s mum got a phone call from his school to say he and his brother had been in a fight with another pupil. She was told the school would deal with the matter internally.
Three days later, the father of five confronted the woman outside her home.
Prosecutor Scott O’Connor said: “The accused said he would rip the face off her and the boys.
“Police attended and found the woman visibly upset. She described the accused as having a knife. At 1.10am the next morning, she called the police again to say the accused had returned and thrown a brick at her window.”
The 12-year-old, his brother and another boy were at a train station on June 23 when Martin got out of a car.
Mr O’Connor said: “He approached the group and referred to the fight a few weeks earlier. He told the 12-year-old, ‘I’m going to slash you. I’m going to rip your face off and put a blade in your neck.’ The accused then attempted to punch the boy.
“A stranger on a platform shouted, ‘They’re only children – leave them alone,’ and the accused went back to the car and was driven off.”
The 36-year-old admitted threatening or abusive behaviour at the family’s Hamilton home on June 4 and 5 last year.
He also admitted threatening and assaulting the boy at Hamilton Central train station 18 days later.
Defence lawyer Gregor Jarrott said Martin was “ashamed and embarrassed” by his behaviour.
Sheriff Ray Small told Martin: “This was deplorable behaviour towards a child who must have been terrified.”